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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2002)
ortlanù (Dbeerurr July 31, 2002 (Ebe ^Inrtlanò ffibseruer Page A2 P olice /V ancouver Stoudamire Defense Wants Evidence Thrown Out Warrantless search of Blazer player’s home called illegal by his attorney T he atto rn ey fo r n o rth ea st P o r tla n d n a tiv e D am on Stoudam ire has filed a m otion claim ing that any evidence found in the w arrantless police search o f the Portland Trail Blazer g u ard ’s hom e should be tossed out. Police w ent to S toudam ire’s former Lake Osw ego home Feb. 23 after w hat turned out to be a false burglar alarm . O fficers w ent in side and found roughly a pound o f m arijuana in a craw l space. Stoudam ire had left the house earlier to prepare fo ra hom e gam e against the D enver N uggets. No one w as hom e w hen the alarm sounded. "T he real question presented in th is c a s e is n o t w h e th e r (Stoudam ire) violated the law re lating to controlled substances,” Stephen A. H ouze w rote in his m otion filed last w eek. “ R ather, it is w hether police are to be given carte blanche to invade our hom es under the rubric o f ‘com m unity caretaking. Stoudam ire, 28, pleaded not guilty in M ay to one count o f possessing 150 or m ore gram s o f m arijuana, and is out on $5,000 bail. H o u ze 's m otion cites a recent O regon C ourt o f A ppeals d eci sion on a case that prohibited evidence gathered from a w arrant less se arch o f a W a sh in g to n County m an ’ s hom e in 1997 to be used against him. If the ju d g e grants H ouze’s m otion to throw out the evidence, it’s likely the case w ould be dis m issed. If prosecutors success fully argue that the ev id en ce should be adm itted, the case could go to trial. Houze and prosecutors will ar gue whether the search was illegal at ahearing Aug. 5 before Clackamas County Judge John Lowe. In the m otion, H ouze contends police overstepped their au thor ity w hen they entered the house and searched it because it was clear no one was in danger; the alarm system w as not fully acti vated at the tim e; and a neighbor w ho called 9-1-1 told em ergency personnel that the door m ight have accidentally been left open, causing the alarm to sound. Houze also contends that, o ver a ll, th e se arch v io la te d Stoudam ire’s state and federal constitutional rights. T he Lake O sw ego officers in the case say they w ere searching the hom e for a burglar w hen they found the m arijuana. The m otion states that from June 29, 2001, to July 10, 2002, Lake O sw ego police responded to about 2,000 activated alarm s. O f those, “not a single one w as triggered by an unauthorized in trusion or by any oth er circum stances requiring police action.” Damon Stoudamire Reward Offered in Theft, Fraud Case P ortland P olice B ureau Fraud Detectives, in coop eration with Crime Stoppers, are asking for your help in locating and apprehending M atthew M arland Smiley. A felony arrest warrant charges Smiley with unauthorized use of a m otor vehicle. In addi tion, investigators want to question him in connection with a number o f frauds and identity thefts. Sm iley is a 26-year-old ■ Ji Matthew Marland Smiley white male with a date of birth Jan. 13, 1976. He is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $ 1,000 for inform ation, reported to Crime Stoppers, which leads to an arrest in this case, or any unsolved felony crime, and you need not give your name. Call Crime Stoppers at 503-823-HELP (4357). 1 la Advertise with diversity in ^.lovthuib (Ohseruer call 503.288.0033 or email: ads@portlandobserver.com Join Providence pain management experts at this free community forum. Oh! My aching back! Skills for preventing and coping with back pain Providence Portland Medical Center Amphitheater 4805 NE Glisan Street Eight out of 10 Americans have back pain at some point Thursday, Aug. 1 6:30 p.m. costs millions of dollars in pain-relieving medications, Free refreshments and on-site parking. Free Providence shuttle from Hollywood Transit Center. Reservations requested, but not required. Please call the Providence Resource One at 503-216-6595 for more information. in life. Besides all the suffering, this health problem and billions in compensation for employees whose back pain is job-related. At our free forum, we offer you: ■ Ways to prevent back injury and pain ■ Tips for relieving the stress that can lead to back pain ■ A question-and-answer session with back pain experts www.providence.org/oregon r 1Providence I Portland 1 Medical Center safety matters Look up before you go up. Anxious as you might be to get up on the ladder to clean those gutters or prune a tree, please take a good long look up and around. M aking contact with an overhead power line can be deadly, especially when working with metal objects such as gutters, TV antennas, pool skimmers, irrigation pipes or ladders. Please stay JO feet or more away. Before you get carried away with the task at hand, we caution you to stop, think and know when to apply the 'better safe than sorry' rule. Your safety matters to us. Witnesses Sought in Rape Case (A P) — Police are search ing for as m any as 10 men they believe m ay have w itnessed the rape o f a 12-year-old girl M onday in a northeast P ort land park. Police arrested 25-year-old A bdirahm an A. Said July 22 on charges o f rape, k idnap ping and sex abuse, but b e lieve another 10 men were there w hen the rape happened. O fficers responded to a 9- 1 -1 call from the girl, w ho was in Rose City Park around 4 a.m. the sam e day, said Sgt. Brian Schm autz, spokesm an for the P ortland Police Bureau. W hen the police arrived, the girl told investigators Said took her aside, punched her and then raped her, Schm autz said. Police found and arrested Said shortly thereafter, he said. Prisoner Charged in 1999 Murder Erica Pratt and her uncle Joseph Moore Jr. outside their Philadelphia home. (AP Photo) Arrests Made in Little Girl’s Abduction (A P ) — T w o m en so u g h t in the k id n ap p in g o f a 7 -y ea r-o ld girl w ho escap ed from h e rc a p - tors w ere arrested early T h u rs day, p o lice said. E rica P ratt had escap ed July 23 after she g n aw ed h er w ay th ro u g h th e d u c t ta p e th a t b o u n d h er, a u th o ritie s h ad said. O fficers h ad said the su s pects liv ed n ea r som e m e m bers o f E rica’s fam ily and w ere know n to th e fam ily . P o lice h av e said the g ir l’s g r a n d m o th e r a n d p r im a ry ca reg iv er, B arb ara P ratt, r e ceiv ed at least six ca lls from a m an w ho th rea ten e d to k ill the g ir l u n le s s h e r e c e iv e d a $150,000 ransom . N eig h b o rs said th e re had been a ru m o r in th e n e ig h b o r h o o d th a t h er fam ily had re c e n tly c o m e in to a lo t o f m oney. W h a te v e r th e m o tiv e , th e p lo t w as fo ile d w ith th e g ir l’s e s c a p e . P o l i c e s a i d th e “ b ra v e little g ir l” c h e w e d th r o u g h ta p e b in d in g h e r h a n d s , a n d b ro k e o u t o f th e lo c k e d b a s e m e n t in an a b a n d o n e d h o m e w h e re sh e h ad b e e n h e ld f o r a l m o s t 2 4 h o u rs. T h e g irl w a s b a c k at h o m e la st W e d n e s d a y , a p p e a rin g no w o rs e th e w e a r. (A P) — A m an w ho cited the m ovie “Fatal A ttraction” to d e scrib e his rela tio n sh ip w ith a w om an has been charged with beating her to death after she overdrew her checking account to bail him out o f jail. Robert W. Cassell, 49, currently serving a P /i-year prison term for robbery, w as charged Thursday in V ancouver w ith first-degree murder. C assell had long been under scrutiny in the death o f K athleen A. M cC ullough, 51, w hose body w as found east o f the V ancouver suburb o f O rchards in M ay 1999. He is accused o f sm ashing her head w ith blow s from a “tire-iron type o bject” and using her credit cards to stay in a fancy hotel in V ancouver. A t the req u est o f a m utual frie n d , M c c u llo u g h d ro v e to V ancouver from her hom e in K la m ath Falls in m id-M arch 1999 to bail C assell out o f ja il, investiga tors w rote. Late that m onth, the last tim e she w as seen alive, she talked o f staying w ith C assell and arguing w ith him , a w itness told investigators. P o rtlan d p o lice fo u n d M c C u llo u g h ’s car a m onth later, and it w as found to contain traces o f her blood and a fern identical to those used to conceal her body. W hen Cassell was interrogated in jail in Portland, w here he was being held on another robbery charge, he told detectives his re lationship w ith M cC ullough was “like the m ovie’ Fatal Attraction.” ’ Repeat Car Thefts S outheast Precinct D etectives are attem pting to identify a sus pect responsible for stealing three cars from three different Portland area car dealerships, in three days. In each case, the suspect, d e scribed as a m ale black in his m id 30s toearly 40s, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 145 pounds and using the nam e “Jay,” w alks into a car dealership and pretends to be interested in buying a vehicle. A fter the sales person and suspect agree to a test drive and the suspect is given the keys, he enters the car and locks the door. In each case, the sus pect sm iled and w aved at the sales person as he drove off. T he stolen vehicles are d e scribed as a dark blue 2002 PT C ruiser, a patriot blue 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and a w hite 1994 Lexus GS300. For a copy of our safety booklet, Electricity 101, call 1-800-791-6093. > PACIFIC POW ER Making it happen. I. Abdirahman Said I
