Maleng's office made several controversial decisions not to prosecute various University of Washington football players over his tenure as King County Prosecuting Attorney, for alleged offenses that ranged from battery to sexual assault. His office declined to prosecute Jerramy Stevens for sexual assault, announcing on October 24, 2000, that no charges would be brought forward. Around 2008, Maryann Parker, the detective investigating the case, said: "I thought should have been charged. I think most people in the Police Department thought he should have been charged. From the police perspective, I think there was overwhelming evidence that a crime had occurred. And then I think we should have left it to a jury to decide. I think we just felt, in our unit and in the Police Department as a whole, that this case was handled differently. And we felt it was because he was a University of Washington football star.”