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J anuary 15, 1997 • T he P ortland O bserver
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The liability of O.J. Simpson
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E arl O fari H utchinson
The moment the jury found O.J.
Simpson "not guilty" o f the mur­
ders of Nicole Brown and Ron
Goldman, the Goldman and Brown
families announced that they would
quickly move ahead with their
wrongful death suits against him.
Many Americans, especially Afri­
can Americans. were puzzled and
confused then and they still are.
They ask, "How can O J be tried
again?" D oesn't this violate the due
process and double jeopardy provi­
sions of the Constitution These are
the com pelling reasons why in
Sim pson's case the answer is no.
Criminal Trial Acquittal
When a defendant is acquitted in
a criminal court, civil suits are
rarely brought. The defendant has
few assets for a victim or their fam­
ily to recover and the time and the
expense of aciv il trial aren’t worth
it. But there are two glaring excep­
tions. The first is when the defen­
dant is wealthy oç a celebrity. In
1976, T. Cullen Davis, reputedly one
of the world’s richest men, was ac­
cused of shooting four people, two
fatally, at his Fort Worth, Texas man
sion. One of the victims was his es­
tranged wife and one of the fatalities
was his 12-year-old step-daughter
The prosecutors tried to prove that
Davis tried to kill his wife to avoid a
messy and costly divorce settlement.
They didn’t succeed.
Davis was acquitted. A decade
later his ex-wife sued hint for the
death of her daughter. The jury hung
in her favor. Rather than risk another
civil trial, a bankrupt Davis agreed to
pay her a $5 million settlement.
When social gadabout Claus Von
Bulow was acquitted of the attempted
murder of his wife, his two step chil­
dren sued him. Il never went to court.
The suit was dropped when Von
Bulow agreed to give up any claims
to his w ife's fortune.
The other exception in which a
civil suit is filed against a defendant
acquitted in criminal court is if it's a
highly publicized case, and the ac­
quittal sparks legal outrage.
When Louisiana butcher Rodney
Peairs w as acquitted in the mistaken
shooting of a Japanese exchange
student Yoshihiro Hattori, his fam­
ily sueil and won a $653,(XX) |udg-
ment against Peairs.
Double Jeopardy
An individual cannot be crim i­
nally prosecuted twice tor the same
offense The Supreme Court has
ruled that double jeopardy applies
to a defendant in a civil case only it
the lawsuit is being brought not for
the purpose ol compensating the
victim or their family lor their pain
and suffering, but to punish the d e­
fendant.
The civil sanctification is so se­
vere that in effect it becomes acrimi
nal sanction against the defendant
for the same offense. Sim pson's at
torneys may well argue this point if
lie's found liable and nailed with a
massive punitive and compensatory
judgment
Suspect arrested in Salvation Army theft
Portland Police detectives arrest­
ed and charged a man with theft of
over $55(X)from the Salvation Army
building, located at 17X5 NF Sandy
Blvd
James A. Brown, white male. DOB
November 26, 1968, was charged
with one count of Theft 1 and lodged
into the Justice Center Jail
Brown is alleged to have stolen
cash, coin, and checks totaling over
$5500 on the evening of December
23, or the morning of December 24.
1996. The money was removed from
the safe of this building. Brown was
employed as a maintenance man at
the time of the theft.
Brown, who lives in SW Portland.
did not have a police record in the
Portland area. He has a misdemean­
or record from crimes committed in
the eastern U.S.
Investigative Sergeant P.J. Nelson
and Salvation Army officials state
that they were able to recover all
checks and except lor $400 in cash,
all monies.
C r im e
S to p p e r s
COMMUNITY
The suspect who was last seen
running westbound on NE Prescott,
is described as male black, 17 to 19
years, 5' 10 to 6 ’0. with a thin build,
dark complexion, and clean shaven.
He was wearing a dark stocking
cap, a black down-type jacket, and
was armed with a handgun.
If you have any information re­
garding this case, call the Crime
Stoppers program.
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash
reward of up to $ 1.000 for informa­
tion, reported to Crime Stoppers,
that leads to an arrest in this case, or
any unsolved felony crime, and you
do not have to give your name.
Call Crime Stoppers at ( 503) 823-
HELP.
Homicide investigation
Portland Police Bureau Homi­
cide Investigators, in cooperation
with Crime Stoppers, are asking for
your help in solving a murder.
On Saturday, August 31, 1996,
at approxim ately 10:50 in the
evening, in front o f 3950 NE
Garfield Avenue, Alaijo Shaune
Johnson, a 17-year-old male black,
was shot and mortally wounded.
A laijo Shaune Johnson, who
went by "Shaune" or "Shaw n”, was
pronounced dead on arrival at a
local area hospital
A black male subject on a bi­
cycle was seen leaving the area
shortly after Shawn Johnson was
shot.
Police
ask for
assistance
in homicide
investigation
On Monday evening, January 6,
1997, Dean Owen Tahtinen, a white
male. 30 years of age was found
dead in his apartment
He lived in the Satellite Apart­
ments located at 10620 NE Wyg-
ant St.
The cause of death has been
determined to have been strangu­
lation.
Tahtinen was last seen at ap­
proximately 6:00 pm, Saturday,
January 4, 1997 downtown at CC.
Slaughters Restaurant and Lounge,
1014 SW Stark St.
The police are asking anyone
with information about this actions
that evening to please contact De­
tectives Mike Hefley or Tom
Nelson at 823-0400.
J
If you have any information re­
garding this case, call the Crime
Stoppers program. Crime Stoppers
is offering a cash reward of up to
$ I ,(XX) for information, reported to
Crime Stoppers, that leads to an
arrest in this case, or any unsolved
felony crime, and you do not have Io
give your name. Call Crime Stop­
pers at (503) 823-HELP.
Investigators: Investigative Ser­
geant Craig Yost and Investigative
Sergeant Terry Wagner, Homicide
Detail (503) 823-0479.
Crime StoppersCoordinator: Of­
ficer Henry Groepper, Investiga­
tive Support Unit. (503) 823-4357
or (503) 823-0830.
February is
Black History Month
Cat/ 503-288-0033
fa r advertising in f a.
Balls of fun with winter sports classes
A host of sports classes that will
keep youth active in this winter is
offered by the City of Vancouver
Community Parks and Recreation
Department
♦ All-sport class fo r girls and
boys ages seven to nine. Class
includes basketball, soccer, and t-
ball. Meet at Bagiev Center, 4 100
Plomondon, on Thursdays between
4-5 p.m. February 6-27. $16 ($15
city resident).
$16 ($15 city resident).
♦ Kids ages six to 18 can learn
the fundam entals o f bowling from
veteran coach Kay Wright. Meet at
Vancouver Timber Lanes, 2506 NE
Andresen Road.
All equipment provided. Choose
Monday, W ednesday or Friday
from 4 to 5:30p.m Indicate which
day of week when registering. Feb­
ruary 10-March-10. $23 ($21 city
resident).
• A five-w eek basketball clinic
fo r girls and boys ages eight to 1 4 1 s
designed to improve basic skills and
practice fundam entals. Sundays.
January 21 to February 18, 6: 50 to
8 p.m. Location to be announced.
$50 ($27 city resident).
♦ Baseball skills improvement fo r
ages six to ten. through games and
scrimmages. Meet at Marshall Cen­
ter Gym. 1009 E. McLaughlin Blvd.
Thursdays, 5-6p.m., February 6-27.
searches for Officers Row guides
The city is looking for people
interested in acting as tour guides
for the stately homes along Offices
Row. Tour guides (or docents) will
be trained in the history of Officers
Row, Vancouver's oldest neighbor­
hood.
Free w alking tours of Of ficers
Row are available to the public-
is Thursday, January 23 from 3:30
to 5 p.m. at Grant House, 1101
Officers Row This session includes
a tour of the O.O. Howard House
which is undergoing rehabilitation.
A different subject will be covered
at each training session.
Interested individuals can call
Morrison at 699-5288.
on Tuesday and Saturday m orn­
ings and Friday afternoons. "W ith
the help of new docents, we hope
to expand to daily tours by sum ­
m er," says Jane M orrison, heritage
services coordinator for the Van-
couverC om m unity Parks and Rec­
reation D epartm ent.
The first training session this year
Annexation area census shows progress
M ost hom es in the city of
V ancouver’s east county annex­
ation area have visited by census
takers.
Over 50 census takers have been
combing in order to get accurate
new population figures for the city.
The census of east county an­
nexation area homes will define
the amount of state funding that is
sus takers have left door hangers
with a postage-paid return postcard
and a hotline phone number. Al­
most 1.000 people have responded
to the mail-back and call-in request.
Each residence contacted so tar
has received a coupon for a free
f amily swim at Marshall Center and
court time at the city Tennis and
Racquetball Center.
returned to the community forprovi-
sion of public services.
“We have visited most of the hous­
ing units so far,” says David Perlick.
associate planner for the City of Van­
couver. He notes that about 60 per­
cent of the residents have been at
home to respond to the census tak­
ers.
At remaining housing units, cen
Task force to assess local sports field needs
J J o rth tn b
Willie Banks murder
suspect sought
On Friday, November 15, 1996,
at a p p ro x im a te ly 8 :3 0 in the
evening, in front o f 1460 NE
Prescott Street, Willie Banks, Jr., a
19-year-old male black, was shot
and killed.
The incident reportedly began
when the victim and his girlfriend,
who were in the victim’ scar, stopped
at the market in the 1400 block of
NE Prescott.
The suspect, who was outside the
m arket, said som ething to the
victim 's girlfriend, who was wait­
ing in the car, and words were then
exchanged between the victim and
suspect. The suspect then pulled
out a gun and Fired once, mortally
wounding the victim.
Observing
© b s c ru c r
C a ll 503-288-0033
[
DIVERSITY
J
V olunteers are invited to meet
January 14, from 5 to 7 p.m., in
the Lewis River room at Bagley
C o m m u n ity
C e n te r ,
4100
Plom ondon, to form a city -sp o n ­
sored task force to determ ine how
sports field needs can be better
met in V a n c o u v e r and C la rk
County.
"The area has been growing very
quickly with thousands more youth
and adults participating in base-
ball, softball, and soccer com pared
to ju st a few years ago,” observes
G lenn Lam b of the V ancouver
Com m unity Parks and Recreation
D epartm ent. "H ow ever, the num ­
ber o f fields has not grow n as
quickly as the population
The task force will conduct
snorts field inventories review
efforts already underw ay, iden­
tify potential partnerships, review
governm ent sports field policies,
identify potential sports field lo­
cations, and generate com m unity
enthusiasm and action.
In Last Comes the Egg, Bruce
Duffy manages the incred­
ible. Here is an American
novel that brings into
uncanny focus the mysteries
of life, death and lunar
weirdness of adults—all as
seen through the X-ray eyes
of a kid. The kid's name is
Frank Dougherty, and when
he’s twelve his extravagant
mother fails him in the most
profound way possible: she
dies. In her wake, she leaves a
new T-Bird his family can’t
afford and a host of troubling
questions. Yet, perversely,
Frank feels more alive than
ever. And, in all innocence,
he fights back.
°slo<V;
And The Keys
Are Yours
*
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