10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2016
Trial: State plans to present video, audio of Smith’s statements
children did not want to live
with their father, according to
court documents. Alana Smith,
now 15, is now living with her
father in Washington.
Jessica and Gregory Smith
separated in April 2014. The
girls’ father sought a custody
evaluation less than two weeks
before they were discovered in
the hotel room.
Continued from Page 1A
director used a bolt cutter to
enter the room. Alana was
bleeding profusely from cuts
on her neck.
“It was a medical emer-
gency,” Clatsop County District
Attorney Josh Marquis said.
Jessica Smith’s defense
lawyers, William Falls and
Lynne Morgan, argued in court
Wednesday that the oficers
violated Alana Smith’s privacy
by entering the room without a
warrant.
As a result, the defense
lawyers claim, all the evidence
collected after entering the
room is tainted and cannot be
used at trial next year.
Marquis said the respond-
ing oficers had no idea it
was a crime scene until they
entered the room. They were
simply responding to a disori-
ented female, he said, and did
not need a search warrant.
The lawyer’s debate was
part of a pretrial hearing in
Concerned
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Jessica Smith appears in court for a hearing Wednesday
at Clatsop County Circuit Court in Astoria. More photos
online at DailyAstorian.com
Clatsop County Circuit Court
this week to determine what
evidence can be used in trial.
Judge Cindee Matyas
recently deemed Jessica Smith,
42, of Vancouver, Washington,
mentally competent to stand
trial.
The prosecution believes
Smith made speciic plans to
drug her daughters and used
razor blades to cut the throat
and arms of her teenager.
Alana Smith told investiga-
tors that her mother allegedly
assisted her with cutting her
own throat and drowned her
2-year-old sister because the
Mackenzie Walgren, the
housekeeper who called 911,
testiied Wednesday about
her concern when she saw
a woman, later identiied as
Alana Smith, lying on the loor
and unable to give a verbal
response.
At irst, Walgren said, she
used a master key card to ser-
vice the room. Alana Smith
told her to go away and even-
tually deadbolted the door.
After moving on to another
room, the housekeeper heard
the teenager fall to the ground
and not respond.
“I became concerned
for her health,” she said. “I
decided to call 911.”
Schermerhorn, the irst
to enter the hotel room, testi-
ied he saw the two girls lay-
ing on the bed. Isabella Smith
appeared lifeless and posed,
and Alana Smith was seriously
injured.
Before the oficers entered
the room, Alana Smith was
asked if she called 911 or
needed any help.
She softly said, “no,” but
the oficers did not know what
she was saying no to.
“We have always just gone
in and assessed the situation,”
Assistant Fire Chief Sweden-
borg testiied.
Unharmed
A few days after aban-
doning the hotel room, a U.S.
Coast Guard MH-60 helicop-
ter spotted Jessica Smith near
her gold 2007 Chevrolet Sub-
urban on a heavily forested
logging road, just off of U.S.
Highway 26, about 15 miles
east of Cannon Beach.
Video from the helicopter
was played in court Wednes-
day, showing Smith appearing
unharmed and in good shape.
She is seen standing by her car,
walking down a logging road
and gesturing toward the heli-
copter. The helicopter crew
sent her down a note that told
her to stay by her car and that
it was not a safe place for them
to land.
A Clatsop County Sheriff’s
Ofice SUV drove up a logging
road, and oficers in the vehi-
cle arrested her.
Another claim from Smith’s
defense lawyers is that she was
illegally interrogated by law
enforcement after her arrest.
The state also plans to pres-
ent video and audio record-
ings of Smith’s statements in
court Thursday to dispute the
defense lawyers’ claims.
The prerial hearing is
scheduled through Friday. The
trial is set for July 2017.
Societies: ‘I don’t think they could shut us down. They’ll turn us into a museum irst.’
Continued from Page 1A
Members must be 21 to
join the Order of the Moose,
but Hutchens said younger
members are rare.
“We have a few 21-year-
olds who mostly come to
play poker, but younger peo-
ple don’t understand what
fraternalism is and that’s just
the way America is these
days,” he said.
The Eagles
The Fraternal Order of
the Eagles is another philan-
thropic social organization
that has done charity work
and fundraising for more than
a century. Across the country,
Eagles raise millions of dol-
lars to go toward programs
that support cancer research
and combat child abuse.
Aerie No. 2189 once had
over 500 members at its
downtown Astoria location,
but was shut down in 1998
due to low membership.
Mike Hauzenberger is
the region’s representative
for the Moose International
Territory 43, an area which
includes Southern Idaho,
Utah and Oregon. He says
the problem with retaining
members is felt throughout
the organization.
“A decade ago, we had
over 2 million members now
we have about 600,000,”
Hauzenberger said. The
decrease in numbers can’t
be pinpointed, but Hauzen-
berger believes it comes from
cultural shift.
“Trends change because
of society,” he said. “People
don’t feel the need to belong
to a group like they used to.”
Hutchens used to belong
to the Eagles, but moved
his allegiance to the Moose
shortly after the Aerie shut
down. Regional oficers
urged members to support the
Moose lodge, which could
have faced the same fate as
the Eagles.
The Elks
For years, the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks
has hosted community events
like an annual hoops shoot
contest. Their main projects
include involvement with the
Children’s Eye Clinic at Ore-
gon Health & Science Uni-
versity and hosting a speech
therapy camp in Meadowood.
Like others, Elks requires
an annual membership fee
and a questionnaire asks pros-
pects if they have had legal
trouble or if they believe in
God.
“We do background
checks on all our members,”
said Exalted Ruler Dave Hin-
ton, “but if you have a felony,
you’re out.”
Hinton also belongs to
the Moose lodge, American
Legion and the Freemasons.
Now a resident in Reedsport,
Hinton makes the5-hour
commute twice a month for
the Elks’ meetings.
The Elks Lodge was
originally built in Astoria
in 1890. It was a two-story
building with a large base-
ment before the 1922 fire
reduced it almost entirely to
ash. The lodge would come
back bigger and better than
before.
In addition to the irst-loor
gallery and second-level bar-
room, a tall-ceilinged lodge
room was added.
Three loors for congre-
gating, not including the
basement, which has bowling
lanes and an archery range,
might seem excessive for a
lodge that only has 270 mem-
bers. But records show that
only 20 years ago, the num-
ber was more than double.
Nine more members were
initiated into the order last
month, but Hinton agrees
that the change in culture is
behind the low numbers.
“I don’t get it. They’re too
busy playing video games to
be involved in community.”
Hinton said the Elks do
worry about being shut down.
“If we don’t keep on as a
business, per se, the Grand
Lodge can come in and close
us down,” he said.
American Legion
Clatsop Post 12 Ameri-
can Legion Adjutant Mike
Phillips will tell you that the
legion in Astoria is as old
as any other in the country
and the wall decor proves
it. Along with a classic fire-
arms collection, pictures and
banners from local soldiers
who have gone off to war
cover nearly every inch of
the wall.
Similar to the other orga-
nizations, American Legion
is responsible for putting
on charitable events at the
national and local level.
Phillips joined the Ameri-
can Legion when he was 23
and had just returned from
service in Vietnam. One of
his earliest memories of the
ost was the New Year’s Eve
party that year. “The place
was so packed you couldn’t
move,” Phillips said. “Those
World War II guys were
partiers.“
While a full service bar is
still available, alcohol isn’t
the only attraction the post
offers, as the adjutant also
remembers groups coming in
at all times to just hangout.
“We used to open at 8 a.m.
and people would be in here
drinking coffee and telling
stories,” he said.
The parties at Post 12
are now smaller, accord-
ing to Phillips, during the
time around that irst party, it
boasted membership of over
2,000. Today, he says it’s
hardly a quarter of that.
Unlike the Eagles and the
Moose, Phillips isn’t wor-
ried about the closure of the
post even with declining
membership. “I don’t think
they could shut us down,” he
said. “They’ll turn us into a
museum irst.”
July 11 th , 2016
July 11 th , 2016.
July 11 th , 2016
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