High speed chases, Amber Alerts and brush fires — all in this edition of the Kitsap Crime and Justice’s Week in Review.
Click below for the week’s worth of stories.
Monthly Archives: August 2006
BREAKING NEWS: Detectives Seek Possible Killer’s Car
Kitsap County Sheriff’s Detectives believe they’ve identified a car that belongs to a suspect in the murder of a 23-year-old Central Kitsap man, and are asking for the public’s help in finding it.
John Falani Taueli was shot in Redwood Plaza on Riddell Road,
near the Bremerton
city limits, at about 2 a.m. Saturday. He died after medics rushed
to airlift him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The detectives haven’t identified any suspects, but after extensive interviews and evidence collection, they believe the killer or killers may have been driving a white mid-to-late 1980s full-size sedan, with undersized, chrome wire-spoke wheels and whitewall tires, according to the sheriff’s office. They are uncertain of the exact make and model of the car.
BREAKING NEWS: Police Chase Ends in Crash, Arrest
Officers have arrested a 38-year-old man who fled from Bremerton police in his car and led them on a high-speed chase to Gorst before crashing head-on into another vehicle.
The incident began about 12:40 p.m. today when the suspect was confronted by a plain-clothes Bremerton police officer at an auto parts store on Kitsap Way. The suspect was trying to return some parts using documentation that appeared fraudulent.
Bainbridge PD Gets the MCT
The Bainbridge Island Police Department is one of the few Kitsap County law enforcement jurisdictions without MCTs in their patrol vehicles.
Until now.
But first: What’s an MCT, you ask?
Short for Mobile Computer Terminal, an MCT is basically a laptop that a law enforcement officer has inside his or her vehicle.
Another Sirens and Lights Lesson
Thanks to a recent fire, it’s time to revisit a firefighter’s classic lesson to the motoring public:
“Sirens and Lights, Move to the Right.”
I received an e-mail from my collegue Derek Sheppard, who works out of the Kitsap Sun’s Poulsbo office as North Kitsap reporter.
He said he’d spoken recently to Connie Lord, Poulsbo City Councilwoman, who said she’d gotten stuck in traffic on southbound Highway 3 as a massive brush fire burned the west side of the highway.
Crime and Justice Week in Review: July 31-Aug. 6
Another busy week that was for Kitsap crime and justice – and overall public safety issues – as featured in our weekly roundup of stories.
Click below for the full report.
“Innocent” versus “Not Guilty”
Kitsap Sun reader Joanne Meins wrote me today, asking:
I often read stories in the Kitsap Sun indicating that a suspect has pleaded “innocent” to charges in a criminal case. I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t think there is such a thing as pleading “innocent” in a criminal case. The suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and the standard of proof in our court system is “guilty” or “not guilty.” If a case does goes to trial, the jury never comes back with a verdict of “innocent.” It’s either “guilty” or “not guilty.”
I’m not a nitpicky person, but this has been driving me crazy!! Please let me know if there is some legal reason for using “innocent” instead of “not guilty,” so I can let go of this and move on with my life…
The answer to your question, Joanne, is a precautionary measure we journalists take to ensure accuracy down the line of copy editors and proofreaders, from the first editing of the story to the last.
