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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2004)
Eugene Weekly's guide to the Defense attorney Barnett’s opening rebut- tal statement lasted only 20 minutes. He said jurors should doubt the women because they are motivated by money they hope to win from the city in pending civil lawsuits. “They have the same lawyer and they’re each asking for the same amount of dollars in millions,” he said. Barnett said the women saw the opportu- nity to accuse Magaña and make money when the police sex scandal first became public. He said the women, many who have been arrested, are biased against police officers. Lane admitted some of the women were suing the city and several did have drug and al- cohol problems. But he said their main motive is seeing their alleged abuser convicted and it’s clear their testimony is backed up by support- ing witnesses and evidence. Lane, however, struggled to explain how a competent police department could have al- lowed such a crime spree by one of its own to go undetected for so long. He said many of the alleged victims, some drunks or addicts, be- lieved the police would not believe their word over a police officer’s. Although many women were intimidated from reporting the crimes, some did speak out. “This stuff has been happening for years and people have been telling people about it for years,” Lane said. One woman told another Eugene police of- ficer she traded sex for not getting arrested, but the officer did nothing, Lane said. “Nothing happened.” At another point a woman on trial in mu- nicipal court burst out to the judge, “how would you like to give a Eugene cop a blow job?” Lane said. But “nobody did anything.” Another woman told a personal injury lawyer about Magaña years ago, but the case was not pursued, Lane said. When the final victim called 911, police took Magaña’s denial over the woman’s word and did not pursue the matter. They investi- gated only after the woman called back and provided evidence that Magaña was lying about claiming he didn’t even know her, ac- cording to Lane. If not for her calls, “it could so easily have gone the other way and none of this would have come out,” Lane said. Magaña appears to have had little effective supervision from EPD. When he allegedly went to assault one woman, he told dispatch he was on “special assignment” and unavailable for other calls. No one appar- ently asked him what his “special assignment” was. Magaña was “working a tremendous amount of overtime,” says his attorney Barnett. The city pays officers time-and-a half or double time for overtime. The EPD continuously complains that its officers are overworked and have no time for community policing or helping victims of small thefts. But Magaña appeared to have plenty of time to pursue his interests. Lane said Magaña ran up personal cell phone bills of up to $700 a month. Many of the calls were to victims while on duty, Lane said, citing “a huge number of phone calls to personal numbers at a time the defendant is supposed to be doing work for the citizens of Eugene.” ew OREGON BACH FESTIVAL JUNE 17, 2004 Summer Special! Introduction to Aikido & Basic Self-defense Class in a Safe and Supportive Environment Tuesday & Thursday 6:00-8:00 p.m. June 15 - August 10 $50 for New Students Amazon Arts Center 2700 Hilyard St. Call for information: 935-8655 DEADLINE FOR SPACE RESERVATION: JUNE 11, 5PM. CALL 541.484.0519 FOR DETAILS. O R E G O N B A C H F E S T I VA L Al Huang A Tai Ji Musical Offering Tai Ji master Chungliang Al Huang and a trio of flute, viola, and harp summon visual and musical energies in The Tao of Windflow. Monday, June 28 8 pm - Hult Center Listen to Great Moments in Music, 11 am & 5 pm on KWAX 91.1, sponsored by Oregon Imaging. OREGON B A C H F E S T I VA L JUNE 25 - JULY 11 (541) 682-5000 oregonbachfestival.com JUNE 10, 2003 11
