Wallowa County Chieftain
News
wallowa.com
January 17, 2018
Failure to register nets jury trial
By Steve Tool
COURT BEAT
Wallowa County Chieftain
In a case reminiscent of the
recent Ricky Tippett attempt
to sue the state and county for
more than a billion dollars,
Keith McFarland, 56, Enter-
prise, is getting a six-person
jury trial to prove he doesn’t
have to register his motor vehi-
cle or carry liability insurance.
That’s because he says he is
not subject to state law.
Judge Thomas Powers
made the decision to go to
trial during McFarland’s court
appearance on Jan. 3 at Wal-
lowa County Circuit Court.
The case stems from inci-
dents Oct. 18 and 19, 2017,
when McFarland was cited
for failure to carry a license
and driving with a suspended
or revoked license. McFarland
has 13 such previous citations
in Wallowa County, dating to
2010. He also spent time in jail
in 2015 for contempt of court.
After McFarland was cited
last year, he returned it to the
court saying he refused service
on the grounds of fraud. He
has filed notice to the court a
number of times, saying it has
no jurisdiction over him.
The 2017 chapter of the
case began when McFarland
appeared for arraignment Nov.
1 before Judge Russell B. West,
the same judge who remanded
him to jail for contempt. The
appearance was combative.
The defendant refused to stand
when West entered the court.
He also appeared to try to
antagonize West by respond-
ing slowly to questions and
unnecessary talking.
“McFarland, stand up,”
West said. The defendant
slowly got to his feet. He
started to say he was only
appearing under threat of
duress before West cut him off
and told him to sit. The judge
also warned McFarland not
to talk over or interrupt him
and said he could remand the
defendant into custody.
West read the defendant his
rights and when West asked if
he understood them, McFar-
land replied he didn’t under-
stand the nature or cause of the
citation or proceedings.
“The question is: Do you
understand your rights?” West
said.
“No, do you?” McFarland
asked.
In response to further ques-
tions, McFarland stated he
didn’t want an attorney. West
said that the notices McFarland
gave to the county had no basis
in law or fact. The judge also
ordered McFarland to appear
Jan. 3 for a plea hearing. The
defendant tried to start another
conversation about whether
the state had evidence against
him, whereupon West ordered
him to stop arguing.
McFarland wasn’t through
yet. He initially refused to
hand the bailiff several papers,
and she responded by snatch-
ing them out of his hand. She
also advised him to appear at
the Justice Center to for a fin-
gerprint order from Judge West
on Nov. 6. McFarland said he
would not comply.
“Then I’ll probably be at
your door on Tuesday to arrest
you,” she said. McFarland
complied with the fingerprint
order.
Fast-forward to Jan. 3,
2018.
An apparently more con-
trite McFarland appeared in
front of Powers. McFarland
seemed to try to sidetrack
Powers by asking him ques-
tions. Powers told him it was a
plea hearing and he needed to
plead guilty or not guilty.
“Before I can make a
plea, I need you to determine
whether there’s been an actual
crime committed in this case,”
McFarland said.
Powers said he saw the cita-
tion, and he also saw probable
cause and noted the defendant
had been arraigned.
McFarland said he had
seen charges but hadn’t seen
any actual evidence of a crime.
Powers replied it wasn’t an
evidentiary hearing, and if
McFarland thought no crime
had been committed, the court
Pipe bomb found
near Wallowa
would be happy to take a not
guilty plea. McFarland asked
the judge if he had authori-
zation to take a plea when no
crime had been committed.
The judge explained that
if McFarland wanted to enter
a guilty plea, they could pro-
ceed with sentencing. If not,
a six-person jury would weigh
the evidence. McFarland
refused to enter a plea.
“I can’t plead to anything if
there’s no facts on the record,”
he said.
Powers said the defendant
was offering a circular argu-
ment. McFarland replied he
wasn’t trying to argue.
“You are arguing, and I’m
just asking you if you would
like to enter a plea of guilty
or not guilty,” Powers said.
“Those are the two options.”
“I can only plead guilty to
the facts,” the defendant said.
“I will infer a not guilty
plea,” the judge replied.
“We’ll set a trial date in regu-
lar course.”
McFarland appeared to be
surprised.
The judge also said the
court would schedule a pre-
trial conference. As of press
deadline, nothing was sched-
uled for McFarland.
The device
was safely
detonated by
bomb squad
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County Sher-
iff’s Office handled a bomb
scare in Wallowa on Sunday
afternoon.
At 3:06 p.m., a pedes-
trian walking along Lower
Diamond Lane in Wallowa
dialed 911 after seeing what
appeared to be a pipe bomb
near Lower Diamond Bridge
not far from the Wallowa
Rod and Gun Club.
Sheriff’s Deputy Paul
Pagano arrived to observe a
pipe about 12-14 inches long
and an inch to an inch-and-a-
quarter in diameter.
“When you look at these
things, you’re not dead posi-
tive they are live bombs, but
you see a few and you get
experience,” said Wallowa
County Sheriff Steve Rog-
ers. “The potential is there,
so deputies don’t mess with
them.”
Following procedure, the
Pendleton Bomb Squad was
called in and the case was
turned over to Oregon State
Police.
Members of the bomb
squad exploded the device
in place when they arrived a
few hours later.
“The deputies reported
that if you were hanging on
to it, the explosion could
have removed a limb and it
would have resulted in seri-
ous injuries to those standing
within 15 feet,” Rogers said.
There are no leads in the
case and the public is asked
to step forward if anyone has
information pertinent to the
case.
“We’ll go have a chat
with them,” Rogers said.
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