BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2022 A5
THE WEST
Herrera
Beutler
third GOP
impeacher
to fall in
primary
SEATTLE (AP) — Rep.
Jaime Herrera Beutler has
become the third congress-
person who voted to im-
peach former President
Donald Trump to be ousted
in a primary.
Herrera Beutler fell to
Trump-backed Joe Kent, a
former Green Beret, in the
3rd Congressional District
contest. The district is in
southwest Washington state,
across the border from Port-
land, Oregon. Kent will face
Democrat Marie Gluesen-
kamp Perez in November.
She had already advanced to
the general election since she
was the top vote getter af-
ter the Aug. 2 primary, with
31% of the vote.
Herrera Beutler, who
was first elected to the U.S.
House in 2010, led Kent by
about 4,700 votes on election
night but her lead shrunk
throughout the first week of
August, and updated returns
the night of Aug. 10 put
Kent —who was in the No. 2
spot since Monday night —
ahead by 1,050 votes.
Kent finished with 22.8%
of the vote, and Herrera
Beutler was in third place
with 22.3% of the vote.
Herrera Beutler conceded
the race in an email Tues-
day night, Aug. 9, saying that
“since I was first elected to
this seat I have done my very
best to serve my home re-
gion and our country.”
In a statement Wednesday,
Kent thanked the other Re-
publican candidates, saying
all of the “campaigns fought
hard because we all care
deeply about this district and
this country.”
“Now is the time to unite
as Republicans because
the stakes have never been
higher,” he wrote.
Gluesenkamp Perez said
in a statement earlier this
week that the 3rd Congres-
sional District race “is going
to be a national bellwether
for the direction of the coun-
try, and for the future of our
democracy.”
Under Washington’s pri-
mary system, the top two
vote getters in each race Aug.
2 advance to the November
election, regardless of party.
Washington is a vote by mail
state, and voters don’t have to
declare a party affiliation.
Because Washington is a
vote-by-mail state and bal-
lots just need to be in by
Election Day, it often takes
days to learn final results in
close races as ballots arrive
at county election offices
throughout the week.
Of the 10 House Republi-
cans who voted for Trump’s
impeachment, four opted
not to run for reelection.
Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer
was defeated in a primary
last week by Trump-en-
dorsed John Gibbs and Rep.
Tom Rice of South Carolina
lost to a Trump-endorsed
challenger in June. Rep. Da-
vid Valadao of California —
which has an open primary
like Washington — survived
a primary challenge. Rep.
Liz Cheney of Wyoming is
bracing for defeat in her Aug.
16 primary against a Trump-
backed rival.
Washington Rep. Dan
Newhouse advanced to
the general election in his
Washington state primary
last week, fending off a
Trump-endorsed rival, and
will appear on the November
ballot with Democratic op-
ponent Doug White.
Judge throws out child neglect charges
against former Grant County deputy
BY STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
CANYON CITY — After more than
a month of deliberating, a Circuit Court
judge has tossed out misdemeanor
charges against a former Grant County
sheriff’s deputy but ruled that the trial
can proceed on three felony counts.
In a written ruling issued July 18, Cir-
cuit Court Judge Dan Bunch stated he
would dismiss four counts of child ne-
glect but not charges of fourth-degree
assault, attempted first-degree rape and
attempted first-degree sex abuse against
Tyler Smith.
The ruling comes in response to a
motion by Smith’s attorneys to dismiss
all the charges against him, which they
alleged were part of a plot by former
Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer,
other sheriff’s office employees and
Smith’s accuser to get him fired and
prosecuted.
Smith was arrested on Sept. 9, 2019,
and then fired by the Grant County
Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 17, 2019, several
months before having an opportunity to
enter a not guilty plea on April 30, 2020.
Smith’s trial was slated to begin in
late October of 2021. However, it was
abruptly put on hold to give defense at-
torneys time to sift through hundreds
of pages of discovery materials filed just
one day earlier by the prosecution.
The evidence in question included
documents and internal reports from
the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
Additionally, there were two recorded
interviews with Smith’s accuser, includ-
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle, File
Tyler Smith appears in Grant County Cir-
cuit Court on April 20, 2022.
ing one in which she acknowledged
placing a tracking device on Smith’s
vehicle and keeping the Grant County
Sheriff’s Office informed of his where-
abouts.
In his ruling, Bunch writes that
Smith’s accuser created “proof problems”
for the prosecution by not disclosing the
alleged assault when she was asked by
law enforcement whether there was rea-
son to be concerned regarding Smith’s
potential for violence.
However, the judge writes, it “simply
strains logic” to believe that Smith’s ac-
cuser and the Grant County Sheriff’s
Office colluded to make a false accusa-
tion of assault to further her goals and
those of the sheriff’s office.
Bunch adds that he stopped short of
concluding that law enforcement delib-
erately withheld evidence that could be
used by the defense to exonerate Smith.
However, in the child neglect case, the
questions become more complicated.
While the judge disagreed with the
defense that internal investigations were
being conducted to develop evidence in
the assault case, he was “convinced” that
some of the efforts in the investigation
were intended to prove that Smith left
his children unaccompanied.
Bunch wrote that he was “particu-
larly disturbed” that the sheriff’s office
became aware that Smith’s accuser was
tracking him and continued to receive
information from her.
“While the court does not believe law
enforcement encouraged (Smith’s ac-
cuser) to track the defendant,” Bunch
wrote, “law enforcement became com-
plicit once the knowledge was obtained.”
Finally, the document containing
Smith’s “Garrity” warning, which Palmer
used to conduct an administrative inter-
view regarding the charges of child ne-
glect, stated specifically that the interview
would not be used as part of a criminal
investigation. Palmer, during the eviden-
tiary hearing on the motion to dismiss
the charges against Smith, testified that
he shared portions of that interview with
Gretchen Ladd-Dobler, Wheeler Coun-
ty’s district attorney and one of the spe-
cial prosecutors in Smith’s case.
“Sheriff Palmer’s informing the pros-
ecutor of the defendant’s story regard-
ing his absences is clearly violative of
this provision and is disturbing,” Bunch
wrote. “Consequently, the court orders
that the child neglect charge be dis-
missed in the interest of justice.”
How we got here
Smith maintains that the crimi-
nal charges against him were part of a
plan by former Grant County Sheriff
Glenn Palmer, Undersheriff Zach Mo-
bley, Mobley’s wife, Abigail, and Grant
County Sheriff’s Sgt. Danny Komning,
Abigail Mobley’s older brother, to have
him removed from the sheriff’s office
and get him arrested.
That plan, Smith asserts, was in re-
taliation for allegations Smith made to
the Oregon Department of Justice on
July 31, 2019, that Abigail Mobley had
used illegal drugs and had a sexual re-
lationship with an inmate incarcerated
for drug crimes while she was a jail
deputy with the Grant County Sheriff’s
Office.
Smith also argues that his accuser
was a close friend of the Mobleys and
Komning. After a 21-month investiga-
tion found that Abigail Mobley commit-
ted eight violations of the department’s
code of conduct, ranging from abuse of
her position to conduct unbecoming an
officer and neglect of duty, she resigned
from the sheriff’s office on Dec. 26,
2021, following a 30-day suspension.
Abigail Mobley, who was on paid
leave throughout the investigation, was
not found to have used illegal drugs.
What’s next
Smith’s trial on the assault, at-
tempted rape and attempted sex abuse
charges is scheduled to begin on Oct.
24 in Grant County Circuit Court.
The 12-person jury trial is expected
to last 14 days, according to court doc-
uments.
Court sides with Oregon governor
Idaho Supreme
Court won’t block over early releases of inmates
strict abortion bans
BY REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
BOISE — Idaho’s strict
abortion bans will be allowed
to take effect while legal chal-
lenges over the laws play out
in court, the Idaho Supreme
Court ruled Friday, Aug. 12.
The ruling means poten-
tial relatives of an embryo or
fetus can now sue abortion
providers over procedures
done after six weeks of gesta-
tion — before many people
know they are pregnant. An-
other stricter ban criminaliz-
ing all abortions takes effect
later this month.
A doctor and a regional
Planned Parenthood affiliate
sued the state earlier this year
over three anti-abortion laws,
most designed to take ef-
fect should the U.S. Supreme
Court overturn Roe v. Wade,
which it did in June.
In a split ruling, the ma-
jority of justices on the Idaho
Supreme Court said the laws
could take effect but sped up
the timeline for the lawsuits
to be decided. Two justices
agreed with expediting the
cases, but said they felt the
laws shouldn’t be enforced
until the legal wrangling is
complete.
“Tonight, the people of
Idaho saw their bodily auton-
omy and reproductive free-
dom taken away,” Planned
Parenthood Federation of
America president Alexis
McGill Johnson said in a
news release. “The court’s de-
cision today is horrific and
cruel. But this isn’t the end of
the fight, and it isn’t our last
day in court. No one should
see their lives used as pawns
by their elected officials or ju-
dicial system.”
The U.S. Department of
Justice is also suing Idaho in
federal court over a near-total
abortion ban, and has asked
that the law be put on hold.
The federal judge has not yet
ruled in that case.
Under the Idaho Supreme
Court ruling, a near-total
criminalizing of all abortions
— but allowing doctors to
defend themselves at trial by
claiming the abortion was
done to save the pregnant
person’s life — will take effect
Aug. 25.
Another law that takes
effect immediately allows
potential relatives of an em-
bryo or fetus to sue abortion
providers for up to $20,000
within four years of an abor-
tion. Rapists cannot sue un-
der the law, but a rapists’ fam-
ily members would be able
to sue.
Planned Parenthood has
also sued over a third strict
ban criminalizing abortions
done after six weeks of ges-
tation except in cases where
it was needed to save a preg-
nant person’s life or done be-
cause of rape or incest. That
law was written to take effect
Aug. 19.
Dr. Caitlin Gustafson and
Planned Parenthood Great
Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska,
Indiana, Kentucky filed three
lawsuits over each of the
laws. The Idaho Supreme
Court consolidated those
cases into one as part of Fri-
day’s ruling.
Planned Parenthood and
the doctor failed to show that
allowing enforcement of the
laws would cause “irreparable
harm,” the Idaho Supreme
Court found. The high court
said the plaintiffs also didn’t
have enough evidence that
they had a “clear right” to a
remedy, or that they were
likely to win on the merits of
the case.
“What Petitioners are ask-
ing this court to ultimately do
is to declare a right to abor-
tion under the Idaho Consti-
tution when — on its face —
there is none,” Justice Robin
Brody wrote for the majority,
joined by Chief Justice Rich-
ard Bevan and Justice Greg-
ory Moeller.
The complexity of the ar-
guments are likely to break
new legal ground in the state,
the majority found. The jus-
tices said that meant the is-
sues shouldn’t be decided
until the case plays out in
full — a process that can take
months or longer.
SALEM (AP) — The Or-
egon Court of Appeals ruled
Wednesday, Aug. 10 that Gov.
Kate Brown was within her
authority to grant clemency
during the coronavirus pan-
demic to nearly 1,000 people
convicted of crimes.
Two district attorneys, Linn
County’s Doug Marteeny and
Lane County’s Patricia Perlow,
along with family members of
crime victims, sued the gov-
ernor and other state officials
earlier this year to stop the
clemency actions.
The attorneys took particu-
lar issue with Brown’s decision
to allow 73 people convicted
of murder, assault, rape and
manslaughter while they were
younger than 18 to apply for
early release.
The legal action alleged
Brown granted clemency to
people who had not sought
early release through the
standard legal process. Most
of the people receiving clem-
ency were either medically at
risk during the early stages
of the COVID-19 pandemic
or had helped with wildfire
fighting efforts during the
historic Labor Day fires of
2020.
Marion County Circuit
Court Judge David Leith re-
jected most of the challeng-
er’s arguments but ordered
the parole board to halt all
release hearings for the 73
juvenile offenders. The gov-
ernor then appealed the rul-
ing.
While the attorneys and
crime victims argued that
Brown’s actions were an
overreach of her authority,
the Appeals Court said it was
also clear there was emotion
at stake because crime vic-
tims felt they were “denied
justice.”
“The power to pardon,
sitting within a singular ex-
ecutive – be they monarch,
president, or governor – has
always been controversial,”
the opinion states.
Still, the Appeals Court
judges said they were “not
called here to judge the wis-
dom of the Governor’s clem-
ency … that is a political
question.” Instead, the judges
said their job was to nar-
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Brown
rowly rule
on whether
the governor
could legally
take the ac-
tion that she
did, and on
that front
they found
her actions
legally sound.
“Hurt – no matter how
sympathetic – does not trans-
late to authority to challenge
and displace commutations
that accord with the con-
stitutional powers afforded
the Governor,” the Appeals
Court opinion states.
Perlow told Oregon Public
Broadcasting after the ruling
that the governor’s actions
amounted to a “violation
of victims’ rights,” and she
hoped the incoming Oregon
Legislature would enact lim-
its on the governor’s clem-
ency powers.
Marteeny, the other dis-
trict attorney who brought
the case, said he thought the
public could take action if
they disagree with the Ap-
peals Court decision.
“This opinion explains that
‘ultimately, it is the voters ...
who hold the power to limit
clemency actions,’ ” he said.
Oregon Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum, whose of-
fice represented the governor
in the case, praised Wednes-
day’s decision.
“Today’s decision recog-
nizes that the Governor had
the authority to commute the
sentences as she did,” Rosen-
blum said in a statement. “I
am pleased that the Court of
Appeals gave our appeal the
attention it deserved and ex-
pedited their consideration
of it.”
In a statement released af-
ter the ruling, a spokesperson
for Brown emphasized that
the Parole Board would in-
dependently decide “whether
a person has been held ac-
countable” and can be safely
released, The Oregonian/Or-
With summer
here, there is
lots of traveling.
Be safe &
have fun!
Baker
County
Veterans
Baker
County
Baker
County
Service Office office
will be
Veteran’s
Veterans
closed
from
has
moved!
Service Office
December 20, 2021
2200
4th closed
Street
will through
be
Baker City, Oregon
May
12th-20th,
2022
97814
December
27, 2021
egonLive reported.
“We are a state and a na-
tion of second chances —
sentencing children to life
sentences and near-life sen-
tences without a second
chance is not the kind of jus-
tice that most Oregonians
believe in,” said the gover-
nor’s press secretary, Liz
Merah.
The legal wrangling over
juvenile offenders comes at
a time when neuroscientists
and lawmakers have started
to change their views on
criminal justice. For many
years, Oregon allowed juve-
niles in some cases to receive
sentences of life without pa-
role.
Youth advocates have
started to contest overly pu-
nitive approaches, arguing
that research clearly shows
human brains don’t fully de-
velop decision-making skills
until well into a person’s 20s.
U.S. Supreme Court deci-
sions have begun to accept
that research in criminal
cases involving young peo-
ple.
In 2019, the Oregon Legis-
lature passed a bill that made
changes to the juvenile jus-
tice system by eliminating
life sentences without parole
for youth offenders. It also
allowed them another hear-
ing to review their case after
serving half their sentences.
After that bill became law,
Brown signed an executive
order allowing it to apply ret-
roactively to juveniles con-
victed between 1988 and
2019.
District attorneys across
the state have criticized that
decision as dangerous and
traumatizing to crime vic-
tims.
A preliminary report by
the Oregon Criminal Justice
Commission earlier this year
found some people released
early from prison because
of the COVID-19 pandemic
were not more likely to com-
mit crimes.
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