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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2018
Supreme Court takes the wheel in cases of vehicle searches
By JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The
Supreme Court’s justices put
themselves in the driver’s seat
Tuesday, hearing arguments
in two cases involving vehi-
cle searches, but it was unclear
what routes the justices will
take to resolve the cases.
One case involved Penn-
sylvania state troopers’ stop of
a rental car driven by a man
who wasn’t on the rental agree-
ment. The second involved a
policeman’s search for a stolen
motorcycle in Virginia.
“One of the things that I
think is very important in these
types of cases is the ability to
give clear guidance not only
to the courts but to the police,”
Chief Justice John Roberts
said.
Justice Stephen Breyer,
when trying to describe a res-
olution to the case, said he
was “looking for something
simple.”
Rental cars
The first case involves Ter-
rence Byrd, who was driv-
ing his fiancee’s rental car on
a Pennsylvania highway when
a state trooper pulled him over
for an alleged minor traffic vio-
lation. He acted nervous during
the stop and told troopers he
had a marijuana cigarette in
the car, and officers decided to
search the car.
Because the rental agree-
ment didn’t authorize Byrd
to drive the gray Ford Fusion,
troopers told him they didn’t
need his consent for the search.
And when troopers opened the
trunk, they found body armor
and about 2,500 little bags of
heroin. Byrd later acknowl-
edged he planned to sell the
drugs for roughly $7,000, and a
court sentenced him to 10 years
in prison.
Byrd’s attorneys argue
his case has potential conse-
quences for the 115 million car
rentals that take place annually
in the United States. They say
that if the government wins,
police will have an incentive
to pull over a rental car driver
who commits a traffic violation
because police will know they
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
People stand on the plaza of the U.S. Supreme Court in
Washington, D.C., to attend arguments Tuesday.
can search the car if the driver
isn’t on the rental agreement.
Byrd tried to get the evi-
dence from the search excluded
from his case. But a court ruled
that because Byrd was an unau-
thorized driver, he had no rea-
sonable expectation of pri-
vacy in the car and therefore
couldn’t challenge the search
using the Fourth Amendment,
which protects against unrea-
sonable searches. The Trump
administration and courts in
several parts of the country
agree that’s the right outcome.
Other courts disagree.
On Tuesday, Roberts and
Justice Samuel Alito seemed
to be the most willing to side
with the government while Jus-
tice Sonia Sotomayor seemed
strongly sympathetic to Byrd’s
argument.
“If we rule that … someone
has no expectation of privacy
even when the renter has given
it to them, then what we’re
authorizing is the police to
stop every rental car and search
every rental car, without proba-
ble cause, that might be on the
road,” Sotomayor said.
Byrd’s case dates to 2014,
when Latasha Reed, with
whom he has five children,
rented a car from a Budget
rental office in New Jersey.
Byrd’s lawyers say Reed was
his fiancee and the government
calls her Byrd’s girlfriend, but
both sides agree that the rental
agreement didn’t cover Byrd.
Even so, Reed handed him
the keys as soon as she left
the rental office. He was later
pulled over while driving alone
near Harrisburg. The reason a
trooper gave for pulling Byrd
over was that he spent too long
in the left lane making a pass-
ing maneuver.
Vehicle on private
property
The second case the justices
heart Tuesday addressed the
issue of whether police need
a warrant before searching a
vehicle on private property out-
side a home.
Police arrested Austin Col-
lins after an officer walked onto
his driveway and pulled back a
tarp covering Collins’ motor-
cycle. It turned out to be sto-
len. The officer did not have a
warrant.
Probing the extent of Vir-
ginia lawyer Trevor Cox’s
argument in defense of the offi-
cer’s action, Roberts used some
pop culture references as he
wondered how far officers can
go in their searches.
“I mean, if you have an
automobile in the house …
Jay Leno’s house, right, where
he’s got dozens of rare cars or
the Porsche in Ferris Bueller,”
Roberts said, invoking the for-
mer NBC “Tonight Show” host
and a scene from the iconic
1980s movie “Ferris Bueller’s
Day Off.”
Roberts had the right idea,
but the wrong make of car. The
car Bueller took for a ride was
a Ferrari.
Associated Press writer
Mark Sherman contributed to
this report.
Politically important
Florida gets a pass
on drilling plan
By GARY FINEOUT
and MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
Water falls over the spillway at the McNary Dam on the Columbia River near Umatilla.
Federal court approves plan to help salmon by
spilling more water over Columbia River dams
By CASSANDRA
PROFITA
Oregon Public Broadcasting
A federal judge has
approved a plan to spill more
water through dams in the
Columbia River Basin this
spring.
It’s part of an ongoing
lawsuit over how to manage
dams to protect threatened
and endangered salmon and
steelhead.
Last year, U.S. District
Court Judge Michael Simon
ordered dam managers to
develop a plan to spill more
water on the Columbia and
Snake rivers to help fish.
Spilling
more
water
means generating less power,
which could raise the price of
electricity.
EarthJustice attorney Todd
True represents the plaintiffs
in the lawsuit, including con-
servation groups, the state of
Oregon and the Nez Perce
Tribe. He says spilling more
water will help move baby
salmon downriver toward the
ocean while avoiding danger-
ous turbines.
“It’s something we can do
immediately that will help
salmon that are on the brink of
extinction,” he said. “The fed-
eral agencies have refused to
provide spill at this level in the
past so the court has ordered
them to do that.”
The court ordered as much
spill as the law allows. State
laws set limits on how much
water can be spilled over dams
before the gases produced
in the process may become
harmful to fish.
Dam managers with
the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers submitted their
new spill plan to the court last
month. They will start spill-
ing more water through dams
in April.
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla.
— The Trump administra-
tion says it will not allow oil
drilling off the coast of Flor-
ida, abruptly reversing course
under pressure from Republi-
can Gov. Rick Scott.
Interior Secretary Ryan
Zinke said Tuesday after a
brief meeting with Scott at the
Tallahassee airport that drill-
ing would be “off the table”
when it comes to waters in the
eastern Gulf of Mexico and
the Atlantic Ocean off Florida.
The change of course
— just five days after Zinke
announced the offshore drill-
ing plan — highlights the
political importance of Flor-
ida, where President Don-
ald Trump narrowly won the
state’s 29 electoral votes in the
2016 election and has encour-
aged Scott to run for Senate.
The state is also important
economically, with a multibil-
lion-dollar tourism business
built on sunshine and miles
and miles of white sandy
beaches.
Zinke said Tuesday that
“Florida is obviously unique”
and that the decision to
remove the state came after
meetings and discussion with
Scott.
Zinke announced plans
last week to greatly expand
offshore oil drilling from the
Atlantic to the Arctic and
Pacific oceans, including sev-
eral possible drilling opera-
tions off Florida, where drill-
ing is now blocked. The plan
was immediately met with
bipartisan opposition on both
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
Scott, who is expected to
run for Senate later this year,
came out against the Trump
administration plan when it
was first announced, saying
his top priority is to ensure that
Florida’s natural resources are
protected.
Other Republican gov-
ernors also oppose the plan,
including Maryland Gov.
Larry Hogan, South Carolina
Gov. Henry McMaster and
Massachusetts Gov. Charles
Baker.
“For Floridians we are not
drilling off the coast of Flor-
ida, which clearly the gov-
ernor has expressed that’s
important,” Zinke said, add-
ing that he knew when he
announced the drilling plan
last week that it would spark
discussion across the country.”
Waldorf: ‘If we look at Septic system: The duplex was built in 1977
what’s holding economic Continued from Page 1A
Bryan Derby disputed the
The duplex, a single- doza said.
family home built in 1977 on
“I received a call from him health department’s findings.
Derby was Fifer Heights Road, is split around the holidays stating “There’s no seepage. There’s
development back ... it is given In the three notice,
options: develop between the Willetts and that in fact his septic system no standing water. There’s
a repair plan within 10 days; the Derbys. Septic systems was working, and his lawyer nothing,” he said. “It’s drain-
always housing’
hire a professional contrac- are in place on both advised him he had rights,” ing out into the drain field
Continued from Page 1A
The nonprofit has rede-
veloped many historic build-
ings as affordable housing in
the Portland area. The Wal-
dorf — also known as the
Merwyn — will be a chal-
lenge, but a familiar one,
Garver said. The project is
estimated to cost around
$7.1 million and wouldn’t
be possible without grants
or tax incentives. Garver
expects they will hear back
about applications for state
funding sources by May or
June.
“If we get funded the first
time around by the state,
we can start as early as this
time next year,” Garver said.
While the organization has
also planned for the possibil-
ity that the project won’t be
funded the first time around,
they are confident they have
a strong case, especially
given the community sup-
port for the renovation.
When Sarah Lu Heath,
executive director of the
Astoria Downtown His-
toric District Association,
first came to Astoria a year
ago to take on the job, she
asked people, “If you could
change one thing in down-
town, what would that be?”
“Overwhelmingly it was
either ’Make Marine Drive
more attractive,’ which we
are working on, or ‘Save
the Merwyn,’” she told the
Planning Commission. The
downtown association has
worked closely with Garver
since Innovative Housing
began expressing interest
in establishing housing in
Astoria.
“If we look at what’s
holding economic devel-
opment back in Astoria it
is always housing,” Heath
said.
Garver said the majority
of the studios and one-bed-
room apartments that will
fill the upper floors of the
Waldorf will rent for $425 to
$550 a month, aimed at peo-
ple with incomes between
$19,750 and $27,060.
City staff had recom-
mended approval of Innova-
tive Housing’s application
with a handful of conditions
that ranged from imple-
menting a parking strategy
to the more typical require-
ments to obtain all necessary
permits and submit an occu-
pational tax application.
Given the historic nature
of the building, any major
modifications in the future
will need to be reviewed
by the Historic Landmarks
Commission.
tor to hook up to a munici-
pal sewer within 10 days; or
vacate the property within 30
days.
To date, Derby remains in
his home and the septic has
yet to be repaired.
“Thirty days came and
went,” Willett said. “They’ve
chosen to do nothing.”
Taking steps
Despite the delay, city and
county officials say they are
taking the steps necessary to
satisfy all parties.
“The city doesn’t just
move in there and shut things
off,” Mendoza said. “I know
it’s very frustrating to Kevin,
but these things actually take
quite a while.”
properties.
When Willett first brought
the matter to the city’s atten-
tion about two years ago, offi-
cials from the city and the
health department walked the
property, City Administrator
Chad Sweet said, and found
no issue.
Mendoza re-evaluated the
system at Willett’s request
in September, leading to her
determination that Derby’s
system was failing. That trig-
gered the notice and order of
violation.
Derby denied the system
was failing and has the option
to conduct an evaluation by
an independent professional
to determine whether the sys-
tem is leaking or not, Men-
Mendoza said.
She said she is drafting a
letter stating he may choose
to have an evaluation to ver-
ify his claim.
The city will not be able
to turn off water to the build-
ing until after the indepen-
dent determination, Mendoza
said.
‘Vendetta’
Derby’s brother, Bryan,
said Willett’s complaints are
part of a long-standing “ven-
detta” and an attempt to get
his family out of the house.
“He has pestered every-
body,” Bryan Derby said. “He
thinks he can get us out, then
he’ll pay the taxes and move
over to our side.”
fine.”
Meanwhile, Willett wants
the city to enforce the coun-
ty’s October order. “The 30
days is over,” he said. “They
were supposed to come out
and condemn it. … They have
done nothing.”
Sweet said Tuesday that
the October order was a warn-
ing. The city is “working on
the issue now,” he explained,
awaiting an official letter
from the health department
before turning off the water
to the Derby portion of the
duplex.
“We’re taking the steps in
the process,” he said. “These
are people’s lives that we are
dealing with here, not just his
(Willett’s) desires.”
LaMear: Filing opens on May 30, closes Aug. 28
Continued from Page 1A
Families and volunteered as a
court-appointed special advo-
cate. She has been the pres-
ident of the Astoria chapters
of the American Association
of University Women and the
Women’s Political Caucus.
The city hasn’t had many
inquiries from other poten-
tial candidates for mayor and
council yet. City Manager
Brett Estes said he has fielded a
few questions. It is still early to
start contemplating a Novem-
ber election, said Finance
Director Susan Brooks, who
also serves as the city’s elec-
tions official. Filing opens on
May 30 and closes Aug. 28.
“People usually file early,”
Brooks said.
In 2014, Price ran unop-
posed for the Ward 3 seat,
representing the bulk of
downtown, while Nemlow-
ill defeated challenger George
McCartin for the Ward 1 seat.
Ward 1 covers the northwest-
ern swath of Astoria.
Price, a writer, researcher,
editor and radio broadcaster,
has lived in Astoria since
1996. She is married to District
Attorney Josh Marquis, who
recently announced he will not
be running for re-election.
Nemlowill, who grew up in
Astoria, is the marketing direc-
tor at Astoria Co-op Grocery.
She previously served nine
years on the Planning Com-
mission, three of those years
as president. She is married to
Chris Nemlowill, co-owner of
Fort George Brewery.
The City Council includes
Bruce Jones and Tom Brown-
son. Both men were elected
in 2016 and their terms run
through the end of 2020.