Wednesday, November 8, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Lawsuit: Blood, urine samples Eyeing
misplaced in sex assault case expansion,
OSU-
BEND (AP) — A lawsuit sexual assault. An officer met
alleges Deschutes County with the plaintiff and her hus-
prosecutors couldn’t file band and suggested she go to Cascades to
charges in an alleged rape St. Charles Bend for a sexual
because either the hospital or assault examination, accord-
buy landfill
the Bend Police Department ing to the lawsuit.
lost blood and urine samples
Another officer picked up
that would have been evi- some of these samples that for $1
dence of a crime.
night, according to the lawsuit,
The lawsuit filed this week
asks for more than $1.6 mil-
lion in damages against St.
Charles Bend and the police
and comes on the heels of
another $6 million lawsuit
against the alleged assail-
ant — who was not charged
in the case — and the orga-
nizers and venue of a party
where the woman says the
assault unfolded, The Bulletin
reported Wednesday.
The plaintiff was at a 2015
Halloween party with her hus-
band and some friends when
someone slipped an uniden-
tified date-rape drug into
her drink, according to the
lawsuit.
She then became separated
from her husband for about
30 minutes and was sexually
assaulted by a man who had
been hired to help with event
security, the court papers say.
The alleged attacker later
told police that he had sex
with the plaintiff, but it was
consensual and she did not
seem overly intoxicated,
according to the suit.
On November 1, 2015,
the plaintiff contacted Bend
Police to report the alleged
but the police department later
told the plaintiff it never took
possession of the samples.
The samples were never
sent to a crime labora-
tory for testing. Deschutes
County District Attorney
John Hummel decided not
to file any criminal charges
against her alleged assailant
in part because he had no way
to prove she was incapaci-
tated and therefore unable to
consent.
Hummel did not immedi-
ately return a voicemail left
Wednesday by The Associated
Press.
St. Charles employees
took blood and urine samples
and told the plaintiff some
of these samples would be
tested by the medical center
to help with her care and oth-
ers would be used by police as
evidence in the sexual assault
investigation, according to the
lawsuit.
Bend City Attorney Mary
Winters says the case will be
handled by the city’s insur-
ance company.
A spokeswoman for St.
Charles Bend declined to
comment to The Bulletin.
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BEND (AP) — Oregon
State University-Cascades
plans to buy an old landfill in
Bend for $1.
The Bulletin newspaper
reports that the Deschutes
County Commission
approved the agreement
Monday with a 2-1 vote.
Oregon State University
President Ed Ray is expected
to sign the agreement later
this week, finalizing it.
The 72-acre landfill prop-
erty sits next to the univer-
sity’s 10-acre campus and an
old pumice mine it owns.
The university hopes to
expand by building in the
former mine and on the old
landfill.
21
Horse rescue organization
plans shutdown
BEND (AP) — A horse
rescue organization in
Central Oregon is on the
verge of shutting down after
being plagued by infighting,
bookkeeping problems, and a
state probe.
Equine Outreach Inc.,
which currently cares for
about 65 horses, has stopped
taking in new animals, and
the board has recently voted
to begin the process of dis-
solving the organization,
The Bulletin reported on
Wednesday.
The organization has
taken in horses that are either
surrendered by owners who
are unable to care for them
or are seized by law-enforce-
ment agencies in neglect
cases.
About a year ago, the
entire board resigned over
disagreements with the
organization’s founders
about bookkeeping prac-
tices. Gary Everett and
Joan Steelhammer, the
husband-and-wife founders,
own the property outside
Bend where the horses are
housed. The new board has
since diminished their role in
the organization.
The state Department of
Justice recently closed an
investigation into the orga-
nization that found it failed
to adequately track its funds.
While department officials
said the organizations vio-
lated state law, charges were
not filed.
Bill Inman, president of
the board, said the sloppy
accounting spurred the res-
ignations and the investiga-
tion, and it also hindered
the organization’s ability to
raise money. He said they
expect a spending deficit this
year, and they’re looking at
other options to house the
horses.
Steelhammer and Inman
both said the welfare of the
horses cared for by the orga-
nization is the priority.
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