3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016
Top court affi rms attempted murder ruling
Former Seaview
man will
continue long
prison term
By NATALIE ST. JOHN
EO Media Group
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Despite
a years long effort to get his con-
viction reversed, former Seaview
resident Martin Arthur Jones will
stay in prison.
T he Washington Supreme
Court reinstated Jones’ 2011
fi rst-degree attempted murder
conviction in a decision last
week.
Jones was accused of shoot-
ing of Sheriff Scott Johnson,
who was a Washington state
trooper at the time, in the after-
math of a 2010 traffi c stop. He
was sentenced to serve about
50 years, and has been incar-
cerated in a state prison in
Walla Walla since 2011.
Jones f amily responds
Jones and his family have
always maintained that he did
not shoot Johnson. In an email,
his wife, Susan Jones, said the
family was disappointed, but
“not really surprised” by the
outcome, because the state’s
highest court only consid-
ered very specifi c legal issues
having to do with procedures
during the trial, rather than the
quality of the criminal investi-
gation or the facts of the case.
The family plans to continue
fi ghting the conviction.
“Fortunately, with that pro-
cess now behind us, we enter
a new stage. Other options
for challenging the conviction
that were not previously avail-
able, now present themselves.
While an appeal is limited to
the trial record, in a post-con-
viction petition, a prisoner may
submit new evidence,” Jones
wrote. “With information that
has come forth since the trial,
Marty Jones and family remain
optimistic of an eventual favor-
able outcome.”
History of the appeal
Jones successfully argued in
the state Court of Appeals that
he was deprived of his right to
an open trial, when a court offi -
cial drew a name for an alter-
nate juror during a court recess.
The appeals court dismissed
his conviction, but in 2013, the
State Attorney General’s Offi ce
asked the Washington Supreme
Court to reconsider the case.
The justices heard oral argu-
ments in February .
The Supreme Court focused
National Park visitors bring
$15 million to North Coast
The Daily Astorian
Lewis and Clark National
Historical Park had 270,411
visitors in 2015 who spent
$15. 4 million in communi-
ties around the North Coast,
according to a recent report
from the National Parks
Service.
“Lewis and Clark National
Historical Park welcomes vis-
itors from across the country
and around the world,” Super-
intendent Scott Tucker said.
“We are delighted to share
the story of this place and the
experiences it provides.”
National park tourism
is a signifi cant driver in the
national economy, accord-
ing to Tucker, returning $10
for every $1 invested in the
National Park Service.
The visitor spending report
was conducted by economists
Catherine Cullinane Thomas
of the U.S. Geological Sur-
vey and Lynne Koontz of the
National Park Service.
The 2015 report shows
$16.9 billion of direct spend-
ing by 307.2 million park visi-
tors in communities within 60
miles of a national park. This
spending supported 295,000
jobs nationally; 252,000 of
those jobs are found in these
gateway communities.
The cumulative bene-
fi t to the U.S. economy was
$32 billion, according to the
National Parks Service.
Most park visitor spending
was for lodging, followed by
food and beverages, gas and
oil, admissions and fees and
souvenirs and other expenses.
States set summer and fall salmon seasons
Oregon and Washington
state fi shery managers have
announced the summer and
fall salmon seasons for the
Columbia River.
Summer C hinook fi sh-
eries begin June 16, with a
daily bag limit of two hatch-
ery C hinook. The season
is expected to remain open
through the summer manage-
ment period, ending on July
31.
The fall salmon seasons
are based on a strong pro-
jected return of 960,000 fall
C hinook, and include C hi-
nook retention through Labor
Day in the popular Buoy 10
fi shery, plus two additional
any-C hinook retention days
between Tongue Point and
Warrior Rock.
As in recent years, the
“boat limit” rule will be in
place from Buoy 10 upstream
to the Oregon- Washington
border. Salmon anglers fi sh-
ing from the same boat may
continue fi shing until all
licensed anglers have reached
their daily limits.
Impacts to Endangered
Species Act listed C hinook
stocks remain the major
constraint for all fall sea-
son L ower Columbia River
fi sheries.
Oregon and Washington
staff will closely monitor the
fi shery and, if possible, may
propose removing the adi-
pose-only requirement later
in the season.
Given the limitation on
u priver b right fall Chinook,
the area upstream of War-
rior Rock will have the tradi-
tional two adult Chinook per
day bag limit for the season.
The forecast for the upper
Columbia River is 93,000
fi sh, a strong return, but less
than the modern record of
127,000 upriver fi sh last year.
Summer steelhead fore-
casts remain low, and to avoid
closures, daily bag limits may
need to be reduced at times
and in some areas to keep
steelhead
opportunities
open through the season.
Anglers should be alert
for potential modifi cations
to steelhead bag limits and
in-season changes to C hi-
nook retention rules. Reg-
ulation updates are avail-
able on the ODFW website
at http://bit.ly/1jT61dm
Took money,
memorabilia
and a dunk tank
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
The former director of the
Commercial Fishermen’s Festi-
val who stole money out of fes-
tival bank accounts, took signs
and autographed memorabilia
and kept a dunk tank was resen-
tenced Thursday in Clatsop
County Circuit Court.
Ronald Kay Williams, 51,
was originally sentenced to
more than three years in prison
in 2013 after a jury found him
guilty of fi rst-degree aggravated
theft, fi rst-degree theft and tam-
pering with a witness.
He immediately appealed
the sentence, specifi cally claim-
ing he never knew the person he
contacted would be a witness
in his trial. The Oregon Court
of Appeals agreed and reversed
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the tampering with
current fi ve-year
a witness convic-
sentence.
Williams’ crimes
tion last month. The
occurred between
court ordered he be
September 2011 and
resentenced.
March 2012.
Williams, who is
The case against
serving a fi ve-year
Williams stemmed
prison sentence for
from his resigna-
other charges of tam-
tion in 2011 from the
pering and bribing
Fishermen’s Festi-
witnesses, appeared
Ronald Kay
val after a compen-
in court Thursday.
Williams
sation disagreement
“This case, at
best, was a civil matter and it with the board. After leaving the
turned into a criminal issue,” he organization, he cleared out the
said. “I’ve done years of my life festival’s offi ce, taking with him
in prison for nothing. Nobody autographed memorabilia that
included the signatures of fi sh-
took a loss but me.”
At the hearing, Judge ermen from the television show
Philip Nelson resentenced “Deadliest Catch.”
The stolen items and cash
Williams to 34 months in
prison, a year shorter than his totaled more than $24,000. He
original sentence. The prison also stole a dunk tank belonging to
time will be added on to his Warrenton Kids Inc. worth $1,850.
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DailyAstorian.com
whole lot of reaction. There
are no winners in this,” John-
son said . “It’s taken a long
time — six years, two months,
one week and four days, I
think.”
Johnson said he was
“relieved” but knows the case
could end up in court again.
“Potentially this could be
something I have to deal with
the rest of my life. That’s why
I try not to get excited about
it,” Johnson said. “But at least
this particular chapter is over
— for now.”
Johnson remains as con-
vinced of Jones’ guilt, as
Jones’ family members are of
his innocence.
“There’s no doubt about it.
I know who shot me. There’s
no question about that. I
looked him the eye. I was 2
feet from the man,” Johnson
said.
Fishing festival director
resentenced after appeal
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the results, Jones and his attor-
ney didn’t seem concerned.
“There is no indication that
anyone expressed any surprise,
confusion or objections …,”
the justices wrote.
It was not until a
week after the ver-
dict, when Jones
fi led a motion for
The justices
a new trial, that he
weigh in
raised
concerns
The
Supreme
about violations of
Court justices con-
his constitutional
cluded that nearly
rights.
every
procedure
In conclusion,
Martin Jones
related to selecting
the justices wrote,
jurors had happened
“While it might be
on the record, and in
the best practice to
Jones’ presence.
conduct such a drawing in the
When the court offi cial presence of the defendant and
selected the alternates during the public, it is not constitu-
an eight-minute break, only tionally required.”
the jurors were explicitly
Johnson’s reaction
instructed to leave the room.
“I didn’t really have a
When court staff announced
SEA
The Daily Astorian
on just two questions: Was
Jones denied his constitutional
right to a public trial? And
should Jones’ conviction be
reversed, due to his claim that
was he was denied
his right to be pres-
ent for all critical
stages of the trial?
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