Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, April 30, 2003, Page 2, Image 2

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Page A2
April 30. 2003
P olice
CRIME =
STOPPERS
A photo shows a
violent confronta­
tion with police
during a March 20
war protest
downtown. Police
hope the photo­
graph can help
track down a
suspect wanted for
using a bat to
strike an officer in
the head. The
suspect is located
ju st left and below
the "stop" sign.
Teen Sentenced in
Officer’s Shooting
(AP) — A 17-
w eapon
and
year-old has been
forgery. The at­
sentenced to 716
tempted murder
years in a youth
charges were re­
prison for shoot­
duced from at­
ing a Portland po­
tempted aggra­
lice officer in the
vated m urder,
head last O cto­
w h ic h w ould
Dustin Tyler Gomez
ber.
have carried a
Dusti n Tyler Gom ez shot 10-year sentence.
Officer George Weseman Jr.
If he d o e sn ’t have any
as the officer was attempting d is c ip lin a r y p ro b le m s,
to handcuff the teen fortrying Gom ez will serve his entire
to pass a bogus $500 check sentence at the M acLaren
at a check cashing store in Y outh C orrectional Facil­
southeast Portland. Gomez ity. A fter age 18, he could
pulled a ,22-caliber pistol from go to state prison if he
his waist, spun around and doesn’t behave.
fired.
“This obviously is an ex­
Weseman returned fire, hit­ tra-serious crime,” said Don
ting the teen multiple times. Rees, deputy district attor­
Weseman, who survived the ney for Multnomah County.
shooting, was in court Tues- “George Weseman was shot
day for the sentencing.
in the head and but for the
Under a settlement agree­ bullet'spath, Mr. Weseman
ment, Gomez pleaded gui Ity w ouldn’t (be here) today
to attempted murder, first-de­ and Mr. G om ez w ould not
gree assault, unlawful useofa be leaving prison.”
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward o f up to
$1,000fo r information, reported to Crime Stoppers,
that leads to an arrest in this case, or any unsolved
felony crime, any you need not give your name.
Cal! Crime Stoppers at 503-823-HELP.
Protestor Wanted for Police Assault
Portland Police are releasing ors, marching behind two large signs sign that read “Capitalism Kills."
photos and asking for the public's that read “All Bets Are O f f ” and Inside the cardboard sign, as it was
help in identifying the individuals “Shut it Down" went up a west later learned, was a bat that was
pictured. The photos are also being ramp o f the Steel Bridge and con­ used to strike an officer in the head.
posted on the Portland Police fronted police who were on the The officer required ten stitches to
Bureau’s Website.
bridge.
close the wound.
On Thursday, March 20 at about
In the group o f protestors was
Crim e Stoppers is offering a
6 p.m., a splinter group o f protest­ an individual carrying a cardboard cash rew ard o f up to $1,000 for
inform ation, reported to Crim e
Stoppers, that leads to an arrest
in this case and the identities o f
individuals in the photos. Call
Crime Stoppers at 503-823-HELP
o r v isit th e P o rtla n d P o lice
B u r e a u ’s
w e b s ite
at
ww w.portlandpolicebureau.com .
C h ild A t t a c k N e ts 5 0 Y e a r T e r m
(A P) — A man was sen­
tenced Thursday to 50 years
in prison for kidnapping a
two-year-old Vancouver girl
for an hour and a h a lf and
raping her.
E sc o lá stic o B orboa o f
S ilverton, Ore. was found
guilty in February o f rape,
kidnapping and assault.
Vancouver Police arrested
him after he snatched a young
c h ild from a p ark n ear'
V ancouver’s Parsley C en­
ter, a popular spot for fam i­
lies and kids. M embers o f
the to d d le r’s fam ily were
playing basketball when they
noticed she was m issing.
She later turned up, bleed-
ing a n d s h a k in g , on a
stra n g e r’s doorstep, three
m iles from w here she was
snatched. Police had said it
was unclear how she got
away.
The judge deemed Borboa
a “threat to the com m unity”
and said the child and her fam­
ily were severely traumatized.
The prosecution had pushed
for 60 years behind bars.
Race Matters in Executions
use the death penalty more often,” Scheidegger
said. “That produces an effect that it’s used
more often in white victim cases. But that’s not
discrimination; that is politics.”
Blacks comprise 12 percent o f the U.S. popu­
lation, according to the Justice Department’s
(AP)
Blacks and whites are murdered in Bureau o f Justice Statistics, but 41 percent of.
about equal numbers, but what happens to their those on death row and 35 percent o f those
killers can be far different.
executed from 1977 to 2 0 0 1 were black.
According to a new report by Amnesty Inter­
A m nesty’s research found that one in five
national, those who murder whites are much executed blacks was convicted by a jury with­
more likely to be executed than killers ofblacks. out any blacks.
The human rights organi­
A Justice Department re­
zation, which opposes the
port in 2000 found that from
A Justice
death penalty, said 80 percent
1995 to 2000, almost three-
o f the 845 people executed Department report in
fourths o f the 183 federal de­
since the United States re­
2000 found ...almost fendants facing the death
sumed the practice in 1977
penalty were minorities. •
were put to death for killing three-fourths o f the
A ttorney G eneral John
whites.
Ashcroft attributed the fig­
183 federal
A disproportionate num­
ures to differences in state
ber o f those who were ex­ defendants facing the
laws, prosecution decisions
ecuted were black and many death penalty were
and geography.
were convicted by juries that
“There is no evidence o f
minorities.
included no blacks, the group
racial bias in the adm inistra­
said in a report.
tion o f the federal death pen­
Amnesty International contended that the alty,” Ashcroft told federal lawmakers in June.
findings, which it compiled from government Some recent studies have concluded other­
statistics and its own tracking, show the death wise.
penalty is applied unfairly. It released the report
An I llinois study found that juries were three
now because the 300th black inmate was about times more likely to sentence a person to death
to be execu te^
if the victim was white rather than black. Repub­
Kent Scheidegger, legal director o f the pro­ lican Gov. George Ryan cited those findings in
death penalty Criminal Justice Legal Founda­ January when he commuted 167 death sen­
tion, blamed racial differences on a lack of tences.
prosecutors in areas with high minority popu­
A Pennsylvania Supreme Court-appointed
lations who were willing to seek the death commission reported last month that black de­
penalty.
fendants were more likely to be sentenced to
“ Prosecutors in more conservative counties death and recommended a moratorium on ex­
ecutions while the issue was studied.
Report finds killers of
whites more likely to
be put to death
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Indecent Exposure at the Drive Thru
(AP) — A man drove up to a Vancouver
M cDonald's outlet, orderedand paid for break­
fast whi le wearing nothing below the waist and
was arrested while eating in his car, authorities
said.
Christopher Michael Scrivner. 33, was ar­
rested Saturday morning and jailed for investi­
gation on suspicion of indecent exposure, Clark
County sherifTs deputies said.
Scrivner, ful ly dressed and eating his food in
his white Ford pickup in the parking lot. initially
said he had been working outside and removed
his underwear because it was wet and uncom­
fortable, deputy Kevin Gadaire wrote in his
I
incident report.
On request, Scrivner pulled the underwear
from behind the seat.
“They did not appear to be wet." Gadaire
wrote. "However, they were very disgusting."
M eanw hile, s h e riff s Sgt. C raig H ogm an
was told by two w om en w orking at the fast-
food outlet that Scrivner was naked below
the w aist w hen he drove up to the takeout
window.
Scrivner said the idea “just popped into his
head,” Gadaire wrote. "H e stated it was his own
personal thing and he did not mean to scare the
employees.”