The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office this morning agreed not to prosecute a Gresham woman if she, in turn, agreed not to sue a Gresham police officer involved in her controversial arrest on the MAX back in August. Angela DeCorte signed an agreement prepared by attorneys from the City of Portland this morning to “hold […]
Courts
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County Fosters Man’s Dog While In Jail
A homeless man is trying to persuade the county’s animal services shelter to reverse the adoption of his 7-month old Chihuahua after it was given to a foster family while he was in jail. “I was arrested in the grocery store for eating out of the salad bar,” says Lonnie Mead—picked up by the cops […]
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BREAKING: Jurors Find Sheriff’s Deputy Liable For Excessive Force In Jail Beating Incident
A Federal Court Jury has ruled against Multnomah County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Hathaway this morning, finding him liable for excessive force and battery related to an altercation with an inmate in the booking area of the county jail in 2006. You can catch up on the case by reading the post I wrote last night. […]
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Jury Still Out In Alleged Jail Beating Case
A Federal Court jury is still deliberating over allegations of excessive force in the booking area at Multnomah County Detention Center, stemming from 2006. Judge Anna Brown sent the jury out at 12:30 today, at the conclusion of four-and-a-half days of trial proceedings which began last Tuesday, December 8. And the jury is still out, […]
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Chasse Trial Moved After 2010 Primary
The federal trial related to the 2006 death in police custody of James Chasse has been rescheduled to June 2010, according to the court docket this afternoon. The case was scheduled for a 13-day jury trial starting on March 16, but has now been moved to a longer 16-day trial, starting on June 1. The […]
Posted inCrime
$5 Million Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Filed Against Mormon Church in Multnomah County
A terrible bombshell of a case dropped into Multnomah County courts today: lawyer Kelly Clark is suing the Church of Latter Day Saints for $5 million on behalf of a local Mormon man who says a church leader in the 70s sexually abused him, causing severe emotional and psychological damage. The case in Multnomah County […]
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Chasse Case Won’t Get A Fair Trial In Portland
I’m not going to lie, I missed this yesterday. In fact, I wrote the date down wrong, but it’s big news, and so it’s time to play catch up. There was a hearing in federal court yesterday to decide whether to unseal certain documents in the Chasse case. The Oregonian and Willamette Week were both […]
Posted inCourts
Chasse Protester Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanor
Protester Chantilly Geigle, who was arrested for splurging red paint around the entrance to city hall on the third anniversary of the death of James Chasse, plead guilty to a misdemeanor in court yesterday. Geigle was originally charged with felony criminal mischief after the city presented a bill of $1,440 to clean up the paint—16 […]
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Three Awarded $175,000 In Cop Lawsuit
The Oregonian reported today that a jury awarded three men $175,000 in a civil suit against the city on charges of assault, battery and false arrest. The men were returning to their car in a parking garage when police followed them, thinking they had been involved in an altercation on the street. When one of […]
Posted inCourts
Oregon Supreme Court Assaults Measure 11
The Oregon Supreme Court decided today that Measure 11’s mandatory minimum sentences were unconstitutional in two specific cases. In cases against Veronica Rodriguez and Darryl Anthony Buck, the court upheld their convictions but deemed their mandatory 75-month sentences for first degree sexual assault to be unconstitutional. In Rodriguez’s case, she was convicted of sexual assault […]
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Chasse Protester Arrested
Geigle at the Justice Center following her arraignment Chantilly Geigle, a Catholic Worker at the Dorothy Day House, was arrested Thursday as part of a protest at Portland City Hall after she allegedly splashed red paint in the entrance to the building. According to the Oregonian and a posting on the Portland Independent Media Center, […]
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Racial Profiling? Putting the heat on HEAT
Are Portland’s gang enforcement police officers legitimately targeting gang members, or sweeping up young black men for “doing fifty-five in a fifty-four,” as Jay Z and criminal defender Chris O’Connor assert? Much has been reported in the Mercury about how the police bureau’s gang enforcement efforts might bring about racial profiling. But I decided to […]