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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 NEWS Hermiston opens up more mobile food vending By JADE MCDOWELL STAFF WRITER H HH FILE PHOTO Tyree Houfmuse listens to his defense attorney Kara Davis during a pre-trial hearing in March at the Stafford Hansell Government Center in Hermiston. Murder charge dropped against Houfmuse ing up to his death threaten- ing Houfmuse’s life. Judge Eva Temple, who had presided over the case from the beginning, was recently disqualified from presiding over criminal cases by District Attorney Dan Primus, and the case had been turned over to Sul- By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER Tyree Houfmuse has spent the last 14 months in jail facing a slew of charges in the death of James Cragun. On Monday, the Herm- iston man pleaded guilty to a single count of felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 25 months behind bars. Judge Patricia Sullivan dismissed all other charges, including murder, man- slaughter, and unlawful use of a weapon, due to insuffi- cient evidence. Houfmuse, 36, was arrested in June 2017 and charged with killing Cra- gun, who died from a gun- shot wound on Memorial Day weekend in 2017. This is the fourth time he has faced charges for a shoot- ing. In both 2000 and 2005 he was charged with attempt to commit murder, and both charges were dismissed. He was also charged in 2014 with a shooting outside a bar in Kennewick that left a man paralyzed, but a jury decided that he acted in self-defense. Cragun and Houfmuse knew each other. The night Cragun died, Houfmuse was with a woman they both had dated and who is the mother of one of Cragun’s children. In court proceedings that have spanned more than a year, Houfmuse has repeat- edly claimed self-defense, stating that Cragun charged at him, and had been making statements in the days lead- “It was never a good case for murder.” Kara Davis, Attorney livan in the last week. Primus released a brief statement about the settle- ment Monday afternoon. He said Houfmuse pleaded guilty on a new case, fol- lowing a court decision made last week requiring the state to try the murder and felon in possession charges separately. The release said the court was concerned that trying the two together would be too prejudicial to the defendant. “At the same time this ruling to sever was made, the court also ruled that defendant’s statements would be inadmissible, leav- ing insufficient evidence for the state to continue to pro- ceed to trial on the murder,” the statement said. Primus could not be reached for further comment. Houfmuse’s attorney, Kara Davis, said her client always had a strong self-de- fense case. “Oregon is a stand-your- ground state,” she said. “If someone charges you, you have the right to defend yourself.” She said the lack of con- clusive forensic evidence also played a part. The state crime lab found that Cragun was the primary contribu- tor of DNA on the gun, and Houfmuse’s DNA was not found on the gun — a fact the state could not explain. But Davis said one of the biggest factors in the final outcome was the judge’s decision to suppress Houf- muse’s statements. “I think that was the final nail in the coffin for the state’s case,” she said. Davis said had the case gone to trial, the only charge on which she would have been concerned about a con- viction was felon in posses- sion of a firearm. She said Houfmuse agreed to plead guilty to possessing the firearm after it went off. The gun was found in a field a few hun- dred yards away from the apartment complex where Cragun died. “It was tragic, but just because it’s tragic doesn’t make it criminal,” Davis said. “It was never a good case for murder.” During a hearing in May, Temple heard more than eight hours of video and audio interviews with Houf- muse and several witnesses, EARTHLINK INTERNET Enjov big-time Internet speeds without spending big bucks! Get Connected for as low as 14.95/mo. $ CONTACT YOUR LOCAL AUTHORIZED RETAILER 49.99/mo. For the first 3 months (Offers varv bv speed & location) first 12 months HyperLinkh High-Speed Internet HH-2018-Survey-ad.crtr-Page1-Composite 855-977-9436 Connection speeds up to 75 Mbps* Satellite Internet HH-2018-Survey-ad.crtr-Page1-Composite What you get with HughesNet Satellite Internet: ! 50X faster than DSL!!** ! High speed with fiber optic technology ! Fast speeds up to 25 Mbps ! Available everywhere ! Fast download time for streaming videos, music and more! ! 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Houfmuse said he grabbed Cragun’s hands and twisted the gun, and the gun went off. Autopsy reports showed the entry point of the bullet on Cragun’s upper left back area. Primus said during a May hearing that the angle made it impossible for the gun to have been twisted as Houfmuse claimed. Cragun had been con- victed of assaulting the woman two years before his death, and she had a restrain- ing order against him. The video interviews and court documents revealed that Cragun had been calling her and sending her threatening text messages, threatening Houfmuse’s life and hers. Davis said with Houf- muse’s credit for the time he’s already spent in jail, plus five months that will be taken off his sentence for “good time,” or time off for good behavior, he will likely spend between two and five more months in jail. ermiston is set to welcome new food trucks to town after the city council unan- imously amended the mobile food vending ordi- nance Monday. Among the amend- ments is an increase from three food truck licenses to six. Those six licenses will be in addition to any mobile vendors who set up shop in the food “pod” the city is looking to cre- ate. The updated ordinance also adds four temporary licenses that vendors can operate under for up to 90 days. City planner Clint Spen- cer said be believed all of those options combined were “well within what the market can support for a while.” “You can always make a change,” he said. The city had begun looking at amendments to its original ordinance, passed in 2013, after hear- ing from potential entre- preneurs, including the owner of Southern Twain BBQ in Pendleton, who complained that they wanted to open a food truck in town but could not because all three licenses were already taken. Spen- cer said his department had also fielded numer- ous requests for tempo- rary licenses to sell things such as ice cream, fruit cups or hot dogs in the summer. In an online sur- vey that more than 900 people participated in, 86 percent said they believed the city should add more mobile food vending opportunities. The new ordinance also loosens up some restrictions, includ- ing reducing the num- ber of parking spots required from three to five, allowing push- carts and allowing operation in the C1 and C2 commercial zones, which included down- town. The ordinance does not create a food pod by statute, but the city is looking into cre- ating a gathering space for food trucks in the public parking lot on Orchard Avenue across from the post office. On Monday the council also discussed the results of a community survey regarding metal shipping containers used as storage units. The city does not currently regulate them, but the council asked that city staff look into possible regulations as the contain- ers become more popular as an inexpensive storage option. Spencer said 376 peo- ple filled out the optional online survey that was open to anyone. Six- ty-nine percent of those respondents said they were opposed to all use of the containers in a residen- tial zone, 51 percent said they were opposed to use in a commercial zone and 35 percent said they were opposed to use in an indus- trial zone. Recommendations from the planning commission, however, suggested that the containers be allowed in residential zones under a few circumstances — requiring the containers to be 20 feet long or less, placed behind the front line of the residence, on a concrete slab, screened from view and free of rust or logos. One con- tainer per acre would also be allowed in commercial zones and industrial use of the containers would be allowed. Shipping contain- ers would require a license, with 90-day and longterm licenses available. Existing containers would be grand- fathered in. Councilors had mixed reactions, and Spencer said he would take their com- ments into account while drafting rules for approval. 541-720-0772 FREE Estimates! 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