This
month marks the start of one judicial career and the recognition of
the longevity of two others.
Newly
appointed Superior Court Judge Bill Houser, who was selected by
Gov. Jay Inlsee to replace Steve Dixon, will be sworn into office
Monday, March 31, at 3 p.m. in the County Commissioner’s
chambers.
Houser
will not have much time to get acquainted with his new job before
standing for election in the fall.
Then on
Thursday, March 27, the Washington State Association for Justice
will honor two long-serving Kitsap judges for their 20 years of
service, Superior Court Judge Jay Roof and Poulsbo Municipal Court
Judge Jeffrey Tolman.
The
event will be held atMcCormick
Woods Golf and Country Club in Port Orchard from 5 p.m. to 6:30
p.m.
The ACLU released
statewide data Wednesday showing the sudden drop in misdemeanor
marijuana possession charges for adults.
Although holding up to an ounce of
pot, or 28 grams, is now legal, you can still be cited and
prosecuted for a misdemeanor if you are found with between 28 grams
and 40 grams. Those are the charges the ACLU set out to find.
And the ACLU found very few.
In 2012, the year I-502 passed, there
were 5,531 misdemeanor pot charges filed statewide, according to
ACLU research.
In the 2013, when the law took effect,
there were 120 charges filed.
Quite the drop.
That steep decline is reflected in
local numbers as well.
In 2012, 138 adults were cited for
misdemeanor pot possession in Kitsap.
Last year: six.
Below you will find the statewide
numbers, and below that the Kitsap numbers. All data was provided
by the ACLU of Washington, which obtained its numbers by filing a
records request with the state Administrative Office of the
Courts.
Ellen
Ebert of Gig Harbor had a meeting at Seattle Center on Tuesday
morning and took a shortcut through
Fisher Plaza.
She
thought about stopping for a cup of coffee, but then kept walking
toward Broad Street.
The
satellite dishes attached to the building that house the KOMO
television station caught her eye.
“I never
noticed that before,” she thought to herself.
She kept
walking.
Up on
the roof of the building a helicopter was preparing to take
off.
About
four minutes later, at 7:40 a.m., she heard a boom and looked out
the window to see smoke billowing from where a helicopter leased by
KOMO had crashed and exploded, killing two.
Ebert,
whose daughter Katerina
Kailey is digital sales manager at the Kitsap Sun, at first did
not know it was a helicopter crash. She thought it must have been
an accident at a construction site nearby.
It
wasn’t until she received a call from Kailey that she heard the
news. Others arrived shaken, having witnessed the aircraft explode.
Her thoughts went to those who had been hurt, and those she later
learned had been killed.
And also
that by chance she missed being rained down on by a crashing
helicopter.
The
meeting went forward, but everybody was subdued.
“It was
one of those things,” Ebert said.
They say
that in life, success is a matter of being in the right place at
the right time.
A ruse that aims to wring cash from those who fear they have
unwittingly skipped jury duty has popped up in Snohomish
County.
A
similar scam, which has made an appearance in Kitsap County —
most recently earlier this month. Before that, a resident in
September lost $2,000 to the scam.
What happens is somebody claiming to be from the sheriff’s
office calls to say you have missed jury duty. A warrant has been
issued, and to have the warrant dismissed you must pay.
Here are a few facts to keep in mind if you get a call from
somebody claiming to be a sheriff’s office representative:
-The court clerk handles jury summons
-All communication about jury duty is sent in writing
-Arrest warrants are not issued for failure to appear for jury
service
For information about the Kitsap County Clerk’s Office or jury
administration, call 360-337-7166, Ext. 6.
Gov. Jay
Inslee’s
moratorium on executions didn’t stop prosecutors from seeking
the death penalty and defense attorneys from appealing death
sentences.
But according
to a records request filed by the Kitsap Sun on Feb. 18, the state
Department of Corrections reported it has none of the drug used in
executions and has no idea of how to get more.
Even if
the courts gave their blessing to an execution, and Inslee hadn’t
vowed to step in and put a hold on it, it isn’t clear how the state
would execute the
nine men currently on death row.
The
state’s primary method of execution is lethal injection, though it
offers hanging to condemned inmates.
“The
Department of Corrections does not have a current supply of
pentobarbital, thiopental sodium or any other drug used in
executions,” the department reported March 5. “We have no responsive records
describing how the DOC could obtain more sodium thiopental, or
other drugs used in executions, in the event that executions resume
and the current method is retained.”
The European Union has enacted bans on
importing drugs used in capital punishment to the U.S.
Manufacturers of the drugs also refused to sell them when it was
clear they were to be used in executions.
Yesterday
it was reported that much of Delaware’s stock of the drugs used
in lethal injection has expired.
Chris Boshears (right) with her
daughter, Jordan, in June.
Contributed photo
Wednesday
marked 80 days since
Christina Boshears died, and although family, friends and
investigators have already been waiting nearly three months for a
determination of what killed her, they may have to wait
longer.
On Dec.
15 Boshears was taken from the Kitsap County Jail to Harrison
Medical Center after she was observed having trouble breathing.
Friends and family say she was fragile from years of drug addition,
a recent overdose and then relapse, and had been withdrawing from
heroin in the jail while being held for what amounts to a parole
violation.
For
those who loved her, the thought of a woman whose worst crimes were
always directed at herself dying in this way heaped heartbreak upon
heartbreak.
She died
in Sheriff’s Office custody, and the Port Orchard Police are
investigating Christina’s death, but are waiting on the Coroner
Greg Sandstrom to rule on her cause of death. To do that, he needs
to be certain his ruling is correct.
“We’re
trying to cover every base here,” he said Wednesday.
“The
typical sample is blood, and also urine,” said Brianna Peterson,
lab manager for the toxicology lab.
Results
on Boshears blood came back. Sandstrom had it sent back for
retesting, which means it goes to the back of the line. The first
test found no significant trace of drugs in her system.
Accuracy
is fairly important in his line of work. And accuracy takes
time.
“We’ve
got to wait in line like everybody else,” he said.
Eighty
days seems like a lot, especially considering when the public is
exposed to crime science, it’s usually on TV.
The time
it takes may take some by surprise, Peterson said.
“If they
only know about it from watching TV, yes, it is probably surprising
to them,” she said.
After
all, those models-turned-detectives need only an hour, including
commercials.
“It
might be a little while yet, I hate to say it,” Sandstrom
said.
Part of
the hold up is the volume of work the lab does. Peterson said the
department handled 11,000 cases last year. An average wait time for
results is about 30 days. Thirteen scientists work in the
lab.
“Some
cases can be much less, if it’s just alcohol present or no drugs,”
she said. “You can have cases that have eight drugs in them, and we
have to do lots of different tests to confirm.”
And
although they don’t visit crime scenes, often enough they are
called to courtrooms across the state to testify.
Kitsap
isn’t helping the lab lighten its load. The Coroner’s Office is
also waiting for toxicology results from the autopsy of
Pamela L. McNeil, who body was found in a ditch on Clear Creek
Road Feb. 27. Investigators said they do not suspect foul
play.
The rest
of the state isn’t helping either. Whenever there is a death that
requires a closer look to determine cause, and most of the time
when an autopsy is performed, and often enough in an impaired
driving case, the lab will receive a package in the mail. The
package will contain blood, and sometimes urine.
From left: Jennifer O’Boyle,
Sarah Saunders, Andrew Galloway, Ian Mount, Kyle Conner, Tyra
Velasco, Taylor Reuter, Jacynda Hoyson, Cheyenne Stefan, Abrynaa
Johnson, Ashley Armstrong. Not pictured: Alyssa Barnes, Chaisten
Wiegel.
Kitsap’s YMCA Mock Trial team took second place Saturday during
the district competition, finishing between Port Townsend High
School’s two teams.
The team
chalked it up to a moral victory, considering the group formed late
and had to make up their team from two high schools, Klahowya
Secondary School and Bremerton High School.
Plus,
the team produced the Best Witness, as selected by jurors. Jacynda
Hoyson, a senior at Klahowya, testified for the prosecution as a
streetwise detective.
Although
the mock trials allows student to practice practicing law, the
skills that go into making and defending a strong case are valued
in most careers. Logic, writing, public speaking, teamwork,
strategic and critical thinking are useful in just about every
field.
The
team’s coaches, Central Kitsap attorneys Ashley Armstrong and
Stacey Saunders, believe next year will see more teams and more
prepared teams. This year the competition team was not formed until
after the Christmas break.
“If we
can get those commitments early on, that’s a lot more time to
really reach into the substance behind (the case),” said Saunders.
“This year was about exposure, next year we will get a lot more
competitive.”
The team
also received two nominations. Ian Mount, Klahowya, was a runner up
for best attorney, and Andrew Galloway, Klahowya, was up for best
witness.
Russ
Hauge, prosecuting attorney, was interviewed last week on
KUOW regarding Gov. Jay Inslee’s death penalty
moratorium.
The
invitation to discuss the issue followed
a guest column in the Seattle Times, written by Brian Moran, a
private practice attorney and former Kitsap deputy prosecutor.
Moran later went to work for Rob McKenna when he was attorney
general. Moran is listed as the “pro” death penalty voice. You can
read it
here.
Filling
in for Moran on Ross Reynolds’ radio show was Hauge, who has been
defending the verdict in state and federal appellate courts since
taking office in 1994.
Although
Hauge is being presented as “pro death penalty,” I think his
position is more nuanced than that. Judge for yourself.
Listen to the interview here.
