A hearing next Wednesday could be the end of former deputy and former sheriff candidate Jay Wallace’s legal troubles — at least of the criminal kind.

Wallace’s attorney, Christon Skinner of Oak Harbor, has submitted a motion to suppress evidence, specifically Wallace’s “officer’s statement.” If the judge agrees to suppress the statement, the case will be dismissed.

Assistant Attorney General Scott Marlow filed an information last August charging Wallace with a single gross-misdemeanor count of false swearing. If convicted, Wallace could face up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

If the case goes to trial next month, Marlow will try to prove that Wallace lied in his report about a Feb. 7 incident in Freeland. Wallace was on duty and didn’t properly respond to two 911 calls from a woman who claimed she was held captive and sexually assaulted, the Sheriff’s Office alleged.

Wallace, who lost a run for sheriff last year, was fired over the incident.

But Wallace challenged his termination, claiming former Sheriff Mike Hawley was trying to prevent him from winning the election. Wallace’s former colleagues in the Island County Sheriff’s Guild voted last summer to support him and sent his grievance to labor arbitration, which will take place later this year.

On Jan. 31, Skinner and Marlow will argue in court over the motion to suppress evidence. In his motion, Skinner asserts that Wallace provided the statement in connection with an Internal Affairs investigation in the Sheriff’s Office, and therefore, it cannot be used as evidence against him.

The statement was coerced, Skinner argues, because Wallace could have been disciplined or fired if he didn’t provide it.

Skinner cites the U.S Supreme Court landmark Garrity decision in which the court held that statements New Jersey police officers used in an internal investigation could not be used as evidence against them.