A4 The BulleTin • SaTurday, June 19, 2021
COOS BAY
3 killed, suspect sought after hit-and-run, shooting
This security cam-
era image shows
a suspect in a hit-
and-run crash and
shootings in the
small city of Noti in
southwest Oregon
that left three peo-
ple dead. Authori-
ties are seeking the
publics help in find-
ing and identifying
the suspect.
The Associated Press
COOS BAY — Police searched
Friday for a suspect believed to
have killed three people in a wave
of violence that included a hit-
and-run crash and a shooting at a
pot shop in a small Oregon city.
The first person found dead
was struck by a pickup truck at
an RV park in the coastal city
of North Bend, about 220 miles
southwest of Portland, The Or-
egonian reported. A woman
also was injured in the crash and
taken to a hospital, where she
was in critical condition, Coos
Lane County Sheriff’s
Office via AP
Defense
Continued from A1
Those funds will only be
released to the office if it can
show satisfactory progress in
several performance areas,
such as financial manage-
ment and office moderniza-
tion.
The changes are intended
to increase transparency and
“impose a heightened level
of financial discipline and ac-
countability on the agency,”
wrote John Borden, senior
analyst with the Legislative
Fiscal Office, in a budget doc-
ument.
Public defense is a field
where it’s often difficult to
measure success, not-guilty
verdicts being few and far
between for most public de-
fenders. That’s why Jones, a
retired Multnomah County
judge, says he’s a big believer
in data-tracking, despite re-
sistance by many attorneys
to adding yet another layer of
paperwork to their lives.
The vast majority of crim-
inal cases, more than 80%,
go to a public defender. The
number is even higher in ju-
venile cases.
In Oregon, the public de-
fense office is responsible for
representing defendants who
can’t afford a lawyer. It’s over-
seen by the Public Defense
Services Commission, which
was formed by the Legislature
around 2000.
In 2019, the nonprofit Sixth
Amendment Center released
a report calling the way Or-
egon funded public defense
unconstitutional and struc-
turally flawed. That legisla-
tive session, House Bill 3145,
would have overhauled the
state public defense system,
though the effort failed.
In 2020, another bill,
House Bill 4004, would have
imposed performance track-
ing and other reforms in pub-
lic defense in Oregon, though
that bill died along with most
others following the Republi-
can walkout.
Borg fought hard to win
support for House Bill 3145,
and sources said he struggled
to maintain momentum after
the effort failed.
Reformers have high hopes
for two current legislative ef-
forts, one bill that passed ear-
lier this month and the other
that could receive approval as
early as next week.
House Bill 2003, which
Gov. Kate Brown signed into
law June 11, expands the
commission overseeing the
The changes are intended
to increase transparency
and “impose a heightened
level of financial discipline
and accountability on the
agency,” wrote John Borden,
senior analyst with the
Legislative Fiscal Office, in
a budget document.
defense services office and
makes other changes. The
proposed House Bill 5030
contains the next biennial
budget for the office, includ-
ing the $100 million hold-
back.
Borg did enjoy at least one
major victory in getting the
commission to abandon the
case-credit model as a way of
paying public defense con-
tractors, a provision of House
Bill 2003. The method, which
paid public defenders a flat
rate per case, was criticized
for providing no incentive for
public defenders to secure a
good result for clients. It led
many to accept more clients
to earn a living. Moving away
from this model will also cost
money.
Jones was brought on to
serve in a temporary ca-
pacity. A national search is
expected to yield his replace-
ment in six to nine months.
The hubbub has also led to
anxiety at the local level.
Private investigators in Or-
egon work on two types of
defense case: retained and
indigent. Retained work
pays better, and law firms are
quick to hand over payments,
said private investigator Thad
Higgins. This isn’t the case
with indigent work, he said.
Higgins has three employ-
ees at his firm WCN Investi-
gations who assist him with
fact-finding for defense attor-
neys in Central Oregon.
Today, Higgins typically
waits seven weeks to receive
payment for work on indi-
gent cases.
When he started 4½ years
ago, he used to get his checks,
in his mailbox, within seven
to 10 days.
“You want retained work,”
Higgins said. “But so much of
the work out there is the in-
digent work through OPDS.
Most people who commit
crimes don’t have a lot of
money set aside to defend
themselves.”
e
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County District Attorney Paul
Frasier said at a news conference.
A few minutes after the wreck,
police received reports of gun-
shots at a cannabis shop, where
one person was killed. Officials
believe the same suspect is re-
sponsible for the shooting and the
hit-and-run crash.
After the shooting, Frasier
said the suspect went to a nearby
sporting goods store and bought
more ammunition.
Meanwhile, police had gone
back to the RV park to search a
trailer that was registered to the
same person as the truck and
found a body believed to belong
to the owner of both, Frasier said.
The prosecutor did not say how
that victim died but that “there is
no question in my mind this per-
son died of homicidal violence.”
None of the victims has been
identified, and Frasier said it was
unclear what, if any, connection
they had to the suspect.
Police began searching for a
white 2019 Dodge 3500 pickup,
which was later found on a high-
way north of where the killings
took place. The truck had crashed
and been set on fire, Frasier said.
A witness told investigators
that the driver appeared to be
armed with a handgun at the time
of the crash and had run into the
woods. Law enforcement agencies
were conducting a manhunt in
the woods, Frasier said.
Law enforcement officials are
searching the woods near an un-
incorporated Lane County com-
munity for the man. Deputies
urged anyone who saw the man
to call 911 and stay away from
him. Residents of the Noti area
were asked to stay inside.
Western heat wave threatens health
BY ANITA SNOW
The Associated Press
PHOENIX — Extreme
temperatures like the ones
blistering the American West
this week aren’t just annoying,
they’re deadly.
The record-breaking tem-
peratures this week are a
weather emergency, scien-
tists and health care experts
say, with heat responsible for
more deaths in the U.S. than
all other natural disasters com-
bined. With more frequent
and intense heat waves likely
because of climate change and
the worst drought in modern
history, they say communities
must better protect the vulner-
able, like homeless people and
those who live in ethnically
and racially diverse low-in-
come neighborhoods.
“This heat has an import-
ant effect on people and their
health,” said Dr. Suganya
Karuppana, chief medical di-
rector at the Valle del Sol com-
Jack White
leaps into his
grandparents’
backyard pool
in the heat at
their home in
Mesa, Arizona,
while the fam-
ily dog Jackson
looks on.
Randy Hoeft/The
Yuma Sun via AP
munity health clinics in Ari-
zona.
People — along with plants
and animals — need cooler
temperatures at night to re-
cover from the stress of high
heat, scientists and doctors
said. But with overnight tem-
peratures in the 90s, that’s not
happening.
Karuppana noted that many
people she sees may have no
car and have to take public
transportation in the Phoenix
heat, walking through neigh-
borhoods with few trees and
waiting at bus and light rail
stops with no or little shade.
Some people live in poorly
ventilated mobile homes or
without air conditioning.