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
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call 503.288.0033 or email: ads@portlandobserver.com
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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