7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015
Court to hear cop-shooter verdict
Washington
Supreme Court
to reYieZ 3aFi¿F
County shooting
By NATALIE ST. JOHN
EO Media Group
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The
Washington State Supreme
Court has agreed to review the
case of Martin Jones, the former
Seaview resident who is ac-
cused of shooting Paci¿c Coun-
ty Sheriff Scott Johnson.
Jones, Johnson and others
involved in the case have been
waiting for two years to learn
whether the state’s highest court
would agree to review Jones’
contested 2011 conviction for
¿rst-degree attempted murder.
Now the justices have taken the
case, they’ll have to wait some
more for an actual ruling of the
merits of the appeal.
State court of¿cials are still
trying to get the hearing on the
calendar — no easy feat, Wash-
ington Courts spokeswoman
Lorrie Thompson said. It could
be anywhere from a few months
to a year or more before the nine
Supreme Court justices hear the
case. The hearing itself will be
short, and participants will only
discuss a limited number of very
speci¿c legal Tuestions from the
judges. But once it’s over, sever-
al more months will pass while
the justices study the case and
write their decision, Thompson
said.
Case started in 2010
Martin Jones was convicted
of shooting Johnson (who was a
Washington state trooper at the
time) in 2010, in the aftermath
of a traf¿c stop of Jones’ wife,
Susan Jones.
Jones successfully appealed
his conviction on the grounds
that the trial court had deprived
him of his right to an open tri-
al by conducting some routine
business while court wasn’t
of¿cially in session. In 2011, a
state appeals court dismissed his
conviction, but Jones remains
lodged in a state prison in Walla
Walla.
In late 2013, the state At-
torney *eneral’s of¿ce asked
the state Supreme Court to re-
consider the case. Instead of
announcing a decision, the Su-
preme Court justices in Febru-
ary 2015 took the somewhat un-
usual step of “staying” the case,
saying that they wanted to delay
any action on Jones until they
settled another case with similar
legal Tuestions, State vs. 8nters
Lewis-Love.
The Love case involved a
Spokane property manager who
was accused of stealing $1,200
from a potential tenant. Like
Jones, Love had also successful-
ly appealed on the grounds that
his verdict should be thrown out
because he was excluded from
some court proceedings.
Jones gets his appeal
In July, the Supreme Court
decided that Love did have a fair
and open trial, and af¿rmed his
conviction. It took another ¿ve
months for the Supreme Court
to agree to hear Jones — a deci-
sion that signals that the justices
may have believed the legal
issues raised in the Jones case
were uniTue enough to merit
their own hearing.
Martin Jones
Sheriff Scott Johnson
For Jones, who has always
maintained that he is innocent,
the announcement means an-
other long interval of waiting
in legal limbo, and the chance
that the court could reinstate
his attempted murder convic-
tion. When contacted by email,
Susan Jones declined to com-
ment.
Johnson, who still maintains
that Jones committed the crime,
said Dec. 4 that he is “pleased
that it’s moving forward,” but
also weary of waiting for a res-
olution.
“I know it takes a long time
for things to work their way
through the court. I’m just hop-
ing for a positive outcome,”
Johnson said. “I’d just like them
to af¿rm the Paci¿c County Su-
perior Court ruling and get this
over with.”
SHOP HISTORIC
DOWNTOWN
ASTORIA
this Holiday Season
This year, many downtown Astoria businesses will be open
Fridays until 7 p.m. More time to shop for your holiday gifts!
Adagio
Holly McHone Jewelers
Phog Bounders Antique Mall
1174 Commercial Street 503-717-3717
Open 11 am-5 pm, sometimes later!
1150 Commercial Street 503-325-8029
Monday-Friday 10 am-6 pm, Saturday 10 am-5 pm,
Sunday 11 am-4 pm
892 Marine Drive 503-338-0101
Monday-Saturday 10 am-5:30 pm, Sunday 10 am-5 pm
Purple Cow Toys
Bikes & Beyond
Forsythea Home & Garden ARTS
1089 Marine Drive 503-325-2961
Monday-Friday 10 am-6 pm, Saturday 10 am-5 pm,
Sunday 11 am-4 pm
1124 Commercial Street 503-325-2189
Monday-Saturday 11 am-5:30 pm, Sunday noon-4 pm
Cargo
Four Seasons Clothing
240 11th Street 503-325-8067
Visit us for many unique gift ideas!
1405 Commercial Street 503-325-8200
Sunday 11 am-3 pm, Monday 11 am-4 pm, Tuesday 11 am-
5:30 pm, Wednesday-Sunday 10 am-5:30 pm
City Lumber Company
2142 Commercial Street 503-325-4511
Monday-Friday 7:30 am-5:30 pm,
Saturday 8 am-5 pm, Sunday 9 am-4 pm
Custom Threads
1282 Commercial Street 503-325-7780
Tuesday-Saturday 10 am-5 pm
Imogen Gallery
240 11th Street 503-468-0620
Monday-Saturday 11 am-5 pm, Sunday 11 am-4 pm, closed
Wednesdays
Interior Style
109 9th Street 503-325-4766
Thursday, Saturday-Monday 10:30 am-5:30 pm, Friday
10:30 am-7 pm during the holidays
de la Salandra
Clothes, wool shoes & mohair toy shop
1145 Commercial Street 503-325-7644
Open daily at 11 am through Christmas.
Jonathon's LTD
332 12th Street 503-325-7600
Tuesday-Sunday 10:30 am-4:30 pm
Erickson Floral Company
Old Town Framing
1295 Commercial Street 503-325-4831
Monday-Thursday 9 am-5 pm, Friday 9 am-7 pm,
Saturday 9 am-4 pm, Sunday noon-4 pm
1287 Commercial Street 503-325-5221
Monday-Friday 9:30am-5:30 pm, Saturday 10 am-5 pm.
Extended hours Sunday.
1380 Commercial Street 503-325-2996
Mon.-Tues. 9 am-6 pm, Wed.-Thur. 10 am-6 pm,
Fri .10 am-7 pm, Sat. 10 am-5 pm, Sun. 11 am-3 pm
Rogue Public House
100 39th Street 503-468-0923
Sunday-Thursday 11 am-9 pm, Saturday 11 am-10 pm
Sea Gypsy Gifts
1001 Commercial Street 360-510-2488
Sunday-Thursday 11 am-5 pm, Friday-Saturday 11 am-6 pm
Street 14 Cafe
1410 Commercial Street 503-325-5511
Open daily 6:30 am-5 pm, Dinner: Thursday-Saturday 5
pm-9 pm, Happy Hour: Thursday-Saturday 4 pm-5 pm
Sweet Relief Natural Medicine
1444 Commercial Street 503-468-0881
Open daily 9 am-7 pm
Vintage Hardware
101 15th Street on the River Walk 503-325-1313
Monday-Saturday, 10 am-5 pm, Sunday 12 pm-4 pm
What-Nots & Whimsy
1292 Commercial Street 503-325-7333
Monday-Thursday 10:30 am-5 pm, Friday 11 am-7 pm,
Saturday 11 am-5:30 pm, Sunday 12:30 am-5 pm
Shop Local with your Family and Friends