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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015 NORTH COAST 3A Trial set for Michel Mitchell in child sex abuse case Defense argues against warrant for Google searches, email Aug. 31, 2014. The female victim was younger than the age of 14 at the time of the alleged abuse. At a hearing Friday, Mitch- ell’s defense lawyer Jay Frank of Eugene argued for a motion to quash the prosecution’s By KYLE SPURR search warrant for Mitchell’s The Daily Astorian emails and Google searches. Frank said the search war- A summer trial has been rant was too broad and did not scheduled for the Astoria man specify the suspected criminal accused of multiple sex abuse conduct. charges. ³,W¶VUHDOO\D¿VKLQJH[SH- Judge Cindee Matyas on dition,” Frank said. Friday tentatively set a three- Judge Matyas denied the WR¿YHGD\WULDOWREHJLQDW motion to quash and direct- a.m. Aug. 11 in Clatsop Coun- ed the prosecution to amend ty Circuit Court for Michel its search warrant to focus Thomas Mitchell. on emails related to the al- Mitchell, 45, is charged leged crimes. Prosecutor ZLWKFRXQWVRI¿UVWGHJUHH Dawn Buzzard said the search sexual abuse (a Class B felo- warrant will focus on corre- ny), two counts of tampering spondence since 2007, when with a witness and one count 0LWFKHOO PDGH ¿UVW FRQWDFW of bribing a witness. with the alleged victim. The alleged sexual abuse Google will send Mitch- occurred between Jan. 1, ell’s searches and emails that 2007, and Jan. 1, 2012, ac- relate to his Gmail account. cording to court documents, Much like a search warrant and the charges of tampering into someone’s house only to and bribing a witness oc- look for drug-related materi- curred between Aug. 1 and al, the prosecution will only Mitchell was arrested Sept. 24 after Astoria Police re- ceived a report in early August from the Oregon Department of Human Services about a possible child sex abuse case involving Mitchell. He is out on bail and ap- peared in person at the hear- ing Friday. Other email communica- tion between Mitchell and the girl’s mother included al- leged planning and collusion, VSHFL¿F TXHVWLRQDQGDQVZHU Michel Mitchell information based on how he believed interviews would go look for Google searches and and Mitchell suggesting the emails related to the alleged girl talk to someone who is crimes, Buzzard said. not a mandatory reporter to The search warrant stems ¿QG RXW ZKDW VKH PLJKW VD\ from emails obtained by the according to court documents. prosecution from the victim’s “It’s crazy to see how con- mother. trolling he was,” Buzzard said Emails from the victim’s in a previous court hearing. mother show on Aug. 10, Upon further investigation, Mitchell sent her an email the prosecution obtained more that listed out the state statute probable cause for the search IRU VH[XDO DEXVH LQ WKH ¿UVW warrant based on two previous degree. In addition, an email incidents where, Buzzard said, sent on Aug. 14, had a link Mitchell allegedly showed a about “respectfully commu- sexual interest in children. nicating with CPS and DHS, 7KH ¿UVW LQFLGHQW ZDV UH- DFFRUGLQJWRWKHDI¿GDYLW SRUWHG 6HSW ZKHQ 0LWFK- Port could have new audit ready for budgeting season By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The Port of Astoria could KDYH LWV ¿VFDO \HDU audit ready by May, accord- LQJ WR LWV DXGLWLQJ ¿UP 0RVV Adams. “The state’s OK with you being behind, as long as we can have an audit on the streets for the budget meet- ings,” said Jim Lanzarotta, a partner with Portland-based Moss Adams. Lanzarotta started his accounting career in Astoria and audited the Port during the tenure of for- mer Executive Director Peter Gearin. The Port of Astoria failed to turn in an audit within six months of the end of its last ¿VFDO \HDU ZKLFK HQGHG -XQH 30. It contracted CFO Selec- WLRQV¿QDQFLDOFRQVXOWLQJ¿UP to comb through and check the DFFXUDF\RILWV¿QDQFLDOVWDWH- PHQWV DQG LWV ¿VFDO year audit, done by West Linn- based Merina & Company. Lanzarotta said Moss Ad- ams has been planning the Port’s audit this month with the help of CFO Selections and is looking to do the main research in April. The Port hasn’t started meeting yet to plan its 2015- 16 budget, which is due June 30. Lanzarotta said that bar- ring any setbacks in CFO Se- lections’ review of the Port’s ¿QDQFHV WKH DXGLW VKRXOG EH available when the Port Bud- get Committee starts meeting. But the Port’s audit and budgetary issues could go back a ways, Todd Kimball from CFO Selections revealed. Uncashed check In 2010, Kimball said, the Port Commission approved of using a $110,000 check from the Energy Trust of Oregon on behalf of work done at the %RUQVWHLQ 6HDIRRGV RI¿FH LQ 2007. It should have been re- corded then as a long-term re- ceivable and held in a restrict- ed account, but it still hasn’t been recorded. The check, which will have to be recorded as an ex- pense, is among the changes Kimball said would have to be made on previous audits and budgets. At the Tuesday Port Com- mission meeting, he covered WKHFKHFNDQG¿YHRWKHULVVXHV he’s found with the Port’s past ¿QDQFLDOVLQFOXGLQJ • A net adjustment of $75,000 to the Port’s expens- es and revenue, after gross ad- justments of $475,000. • 235 misreported items, because of lack of under- standing about reporting and a lack of care in the reporting. • Misreported tenant im- provements and Port-issued rent credits. In total, he said, the Port’s reduced rent equal to $450,000 between 2012 and 2014 in exchange for WHQDQW¿QDQFHG LPSURYH- ments. The improvements, he said, should have been re- FRUGHG DV ¿[HG DVVHWV JRLQJ against liabilities. • Unreported potential li- abilities related to the Asto- ria Areawide Groundwater Contamination. The Oregon Department of Environmen- tal Quality, the Port and pe- troleum distributors formerly located on Port property have been negotiating a cleanup effort since 2000. Kimball said he’s been working with Moss Adams to summarize the Port’s potential environ- mental liability on the issue. Lanzarotta added that the potential liabilities of the cleanup would be offset by an estimate of what the Port’s in- surers might pay. 6HYHUDO ¿[HG DVVHWV YH- hicles, tools, etc.) disposed of but not taken off the books. Kimball said those changes would be minimal. Kimball said the changes would all require amendments to the Port’s 2013-14 audit, with footnotes disclosing the changes. Lanzarotta said it’s up to the Port whether to change prior year’s budgets or ad- just the current budget to ac- count for any changes. “Often times, taking the hits (in the current year) and cleaning up ¿QDQFLDOV LV WKH XVXDO UHDF- tion,” he said. Good this year ell’s ex-wife, married to him between 2003 and 2007, said VKH UHFDOOHG ¿QGLQJ VXVSL- cious material on his computer while they were married. She told detectives she clicked on a folder on his computer and found links to pictures of girls between 6- and 8-years old that were fully clothed. “The pictures were not sexy pictures, but when she clicked on an associated link from that page, it took her to adult pornography,” court documents state. The second incident was UHSRUWHG 6HSW E\ D IRU- mer co-worker of Mitchell’s. The co-worker, who worked with Mitchell between 2005 and 2008, said he brought his 5-year-old daughter to work. His daughter and Mitchell ZHUH LQ WKH RI¿FH WRJHWK- er. Mitchell came out and claimed the girl was looking up adult pornography on the computer, according to the co-worker. “He later asked his daugh- ter about the allegation, but she said she didn’t do any- thing and that the pornogra- phy had come up under the search bar on the computer,” the court documents stated. Frank argued Friday that the previous incidents do not relate to the current charges of sex abuse. “These episodes did not involve child sex abuse and did not involve emailing,” he said. At the Friday hearing, Frank said he was hesitant about an August trial date. Waiting for the Google searches and emails and text messages off of the alleged victim’s phone, may take time, Frank said. “Mr. Mitchell’s livelihood is at stake,” he said. “He has a right to a speedy trial but sometimes that can be a fool’s errand.” Frank also indicated he SODQV WR ¿OH D UHTXHVW IRU D settlement conference, where he hopes to avoid trial by reaching an agreement with the prosecution. Besides the proposed set- tlement conference, Judge Matyas set a status hearing for 3:30 p.m. May 14, the last hearing before trial. Roller derby smashing action Air Raid’s jammer MasScara tries to pass Shanghaied Roller Doll’s pivot Smelter Skelter during the second half of the Spring Breakdown roller derby match at the Astoria Armory Saturday. Air Raid Roller Girls won 170-113. See more photos from the derby online at dailyastorian.com. Along with the report on WKH 3RUW¶V SDVW ¿QDQFLDOV DQG audit Tuesday, Finance Man- JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian ager Jim Grey reported that WKURXJKWKH¿UVWVHYHQPRQWKV RIWKH¿VFDO\HDU² -XO\ WKURXJK -DQXDU\ ² WKH Port has more than $500,000 in net income. 6XVDQ %URRNV WKH ¿QDQFH 7KH FHUWL¿HG SXEOLF DF- 7KHFLW\¶V¿QDQFHGLUHFWRU Grey’s report was the sec- ond in as many months. Both and administration director at countant had previously served also functions as the city trea- reports have been advisory Tongue Point Job Corps Center, DV WKH FLW\¶V DVVLVWDQW ¿QDQFH surer and city clerk and over- sees human resources. items, meaning the Port Com- LV$VWRULD¶VQHZ¿QDQFHGLUHFWRU GLUHFWRUIURPWR mission still hasn’t voted to DSSURYH WKHP LWV ¿QDQFLDOV 7KHUHDUHQRDSSURYHG¿QDQ- cials since December 2013 listed on the Port’s website. “What we’re seeing WKURXJKWKH¿UVWVHYHQPRQWKV is strong operating revenues,” said Grey, adding that most categories of revenue exceed- ed what was budgeted for in June. 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