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
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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"
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WINDS (in mph)
61/45
54/34
0.00"
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Albany
57/53
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HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yest.
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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
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Oct 8
Oct 16
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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
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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.
Attorney Sean Riddell, who penned the
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letters, claims the mayor’s actions were “to
advance his own personal political agenda,
advance his political career and punish citi-
zens he perceived to hold alternative politi-
cal beliefs.”
Wheeler says the letters make misrepre-
sentations of what occurred, and the claims
by Riddell will fall apart if investigated.
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