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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2018)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Friday, October 5, 2018 Grand jury proceedings soon to be recorded five of the jurors find prob- able cause — a 50 percent or greater chance that the alleged crimes occurred — the case moves forward with an indictment. Preliminary hearings, on the other hand, involve defense attorneys in the process. Instead of a jury, a judge rules on probable cause. These hearings are use- ful for prosecutors when they believe a witness may change their statements or otherwise not be avail- able later in the case, Dep- uty District Attorney Ron Brown said. Otherwise, they largely benefit defense attorneys, who have the ability to cross-examine witnesses. During grand jury pro- ceedings, one juror is des- ignated to keep handwritten notes. When the new state law takes effect, prosecu- tors will need to either train a juror to record the pro- ceeding using audio equip- ment or hire a certified shorthand reporter. In more than 30 years as a prosecutor, Marquis recalls just a handful of times he’s pursued a pre- liminary hearing rather than a grand jury in felony cases. Now, both the district attor- ney and Brown, who will New state law likely to change how local prosecutors seek indictments By JACK HEFFERNAN EO Media Group A new state law that requires grand jury pro- ceedings to be recorded will likely alter how the Clatsop County District Attorney’s Office seeks many felony indictments. The law will take effect in Clatsop County in July after it was signed into law by Gov. Kate Brown last year. While prosecu- tors typically seek secre- tive grand jury indictments in felony cases, many have said preliminary hear- ings, which are open to the public, will become more common. “It’s a pretty big change in the statute,” Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said. During grand jury hear- ings, a prosecutor calls wit- nesses to testify in front of seven jurors. They testify under oath, but a defense attorney is not present and witnesses are not subject to cross-examination. If “What we’re really doing is, literally, creating another courtroom. I think it’s kind of absurd to say you have to operate this as if you were making $30,000, $40,000 a year,” Marquis said of hav- ing to train volunteer jurors to use the equipment. New costs Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Grand jury proceedings will soon be recorded in Clatsop County. succeed Marquis in Janu- ary, expect that preliminary hearings will be requested more regularly. “It’s a bad idea, but it’s the law now.” Marquis said. Other states do it The requirements seek to address a perceived lack of transparency in the judi- cial system, especially with grand juries. Every other state in the country, with the exception of Louisi- ana, requires grand juries to Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY A brief shower this afternoon Mostly cloudy with a few showers Partly sunny Rain and drizzle in the p.m. Mainly cloudy with a few showers 59° 45° 57° 40° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 62° 41° 61° 46° 62° 35° be recorded. Civil rights groups have expressed sup- port for the law. “This is doable. It’s done in a lot of places,” said Kirk Wintermute, an Astoria criminal defense attorney. “There are a lot of issues with the justice system, and this is one of them.” The recordings will also give defense attorneys more ammunition when cross-examining the same witnesses later in cases. “People often make very different statements in grand jury than they do in trial,” Wintermute said. “Getting that extra state- ment under oath is really important.” Prosecutors, how- ever, have raised alarms. Law enforcement groups have joined them, as well as state Sen. Betsy John- son, D-Scappoose, and state Rep. Deborah Boone, D-Cannon Beach. Victims may be less will- ing to make recorded alle- gations without a guarantee of charges being filed, espe- cially in sex abuse cases where victims are more reluctant to come forward against people they typi- cally know well. Adding to the complex- ity is the cost of imple- menting the system. Three counties — Multnomah, Deschutes and Jackson — have had the law in place since March as part of a pilot program. The counties recently requested $924,837 from the state to help offset the costs of reviewing tran- scripts, drafting protec- tive orders to limit who can access the recordings and managing equipment, among other things. Instead, the district attor- ney’s office will likely opt for preliminary hearings in about half of felony cases, Brown said. The incoming district attorney will likely still pursue grand jury indictments in sensitive cases, such as sex abuse. Due to the inclusion of defense attorneys in the process, the hearings could lengthen the proceedings and create scheduling con- flicts in an already heavy caseload for the county. “Any kind of workload that is going to affect the caseload is a concern,” said Phillip Lemman, spokes- man for the state Judicial Department. “If the district attorneys are going to cre- ate preliminary hearings, we need to be prepared to respond to those things.” The three counties that have been part of the pilot program have used prelim- inary hearings to varying degrees so far, and will offer reports about their progress over the next few months. Counties not currently sub- ject to the law, like Clatsop, will be watching. “It really hasn’t been used widely enough to know if there are any effi- ciencies or qualitative dif- ferences,” Lemman said. “We’re kind of in a state of flux.” HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 63° 38° 60° 47° 66° 44° 64° 50° OREGON FORECAST 68° 37° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 55/46 56/38 57/40 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 59/46 Lewiston 54/48 61/47 Astoria 59/45 Pullman Yakima 59/41 53/40 61/43 Portland Hermiston 57/51 Salem The Dalles 60/47 56/45 57/51 Yesterday Normals Records 59/45 La Grande 57/42 Bend 59/51 54/41 56/45 Ontario 63/43 Caldwell Burns 63° 36° 71° 42° 87° (1958) 26° (2012) PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene 0.00" Trace 0.07" 5.15" 7.04" 6.63" WINDS (in mph) 61/45 54/34 0.00" 0.01" 0.13" 6.53" 12.34" 9.07" 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 57/53 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Enterprise Pendleton 55/39 57/52 Corvallis 60° 42° 69° 44° 90° (1892) 27° (1916) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 54/42 Aberdeen 56/41 56/42 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 55/47 Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 58/50 Sat. WSW 4-8 W 6-12 NNW 4-8 NW 6-12 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 55/39 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 6:58 a.m. 6:28 p.m. 2:29 a.m. 5:05 p.m. New First Full Last Oct 8 Oct 16 Oct 24 Oct 31 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 99° in Jasper, Ala. Low 12° in Ashley, N.D. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY PSU board faces pressure to disarm campus officers By ERICKA CRUZ GUEVARRA Oregon Public Broadcasting One after the other, Portland State Uni- versity students, faculty and staff stood before the university’s board of trustees while echoing demands to immediately disarm campus officers. In the second row of the university’s Lincoln Performance Hall sat the family of Jason Washington, a black Navy veteran whose death marked the first fatal shoot- ing by armed campus officers at the school. The shooting reopened old wounds over the university board’s controversial 2014 decision to arm campus officers despite protest from students and faculty at the time. Washington’s death was fodder for a told-you-so argument for members of the university community who feared arming campus officers would only make the uni- versity less safe, especially for people of color on campus. “Why’d it take somebody dying for you to wrestle with this issue again?” said PSU Student Union member Olivia Pace. “Saying the community has spoken is an understatement.” Thursday’s board meeting marked the first since campus police officers James Dewey and Shawn McKenzie shot and killed Washington seconds after arriving to the scene of a drunken brawl outside the Cheerful Tortoise Bar the morning of June 29. Black Lives Matter signs were placed on stage in front of board members. Stu- dents filtered in and out between classes. Faculty came with their expertise in public health, conflict resolution and urban plan- ning in support of calls to disarm. Several faculty members sought to dis- pel any idea that students are alone in their demands for the university to disarm cam- pus officers. Ben Anderson-Nathe, associ- ate professor of child and family studies at PSU, said during the open comment period that faculty have stood with students since protests against arming campus officers first began. “We have marched, we have testified, we have stood with students,” Ander- son-Nathe said. “Jason Washington was killed on your watch, and faculty have watched. We are watching to see how you respond.” ICE union calls for criminal investigation of Portland mayor Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s cold front — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays www.eastoregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front high 110s low PORTLAND (AP) — The union rep- resenting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees has asked Oregon and federal officials to conduct a criminal investigation of the Portland mayor over his response to immigration protests. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the National ICE Council claims in letters sent Wednesday to officials that Ted Wheeler committed official misconduct or violated the U.S. Constitution by directing Portland police not to respond to some calls for ser- vice during a protest this summer at the ICE office. 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