2A • September 14, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Woman in fatal drunken-driving crash sentenced
Barnett gets 13
years in prison
By Jack Heffernan
The Daily Astorian
A woman who crashed an
SUV into a Seaside bus stop
shelter while drunk last year,
killing one man and critical-
ly injuring another, pleaded
guilty to several crimes and
was sentenced to more than
13 years in prison.
One night last Septem-
ber, Corrissa Barnett had
been drinking heavily while
she was with Casey Fulmer,
a longtime friend, and some
children at Fulmer’s house.
Later in the night, she indi-
cated she wanted to leave the
house and take her teenage
daughter with her.
When Fulmer tried to pre-
vent her from leaving, Barnett
started a fight in which she
punched and
choked
her.
Barnett was
able to start
a black 1999
Dodge Duran-
go and drive
Corrissa
away as Ful-
Barnett
mer dialed 911.
Seaside po-
lice responded to the area, lo-
cated the Durango — driving at
high speed with the headlights
off — and attempted to make
a traffic stop. Barnett, howev-
er, continued driving, partially
collided with a police car and
injured Officer Elise Parkman.
She kept driving and turned
northbound onto Roosevelt
Drive. The car jumped a side-
walk outside of McDonald’s
restaurant, struck a concrete
light pole and slammed into a
bus stop shelter occupied by
two men.
Robert Miles, 42, of Ham-
mond, died, while the other
Corrissa Barnett was charged with manslaughter after a fatal drunken-driving crash in Sea-
side last September.
man, Abdirisak Mohamed,
41, of Longview, Washington,
was critically injured.
When officers arrived, the
street was littered with shat-
tered glass from the damaged
bus stop and blood from the
two victims. Officers spot-
ted Barnett running toward a
bush, where she hid and was
soon arrested.
Barnett was taken to the
hospital, where her blood al-
cohol content was more than
four times the legal limit for
driving, Deputy District At-
torney Dawn Buzzard said.
She admitted to being the
driver and drinking prior to
the crash and was taken to the
Clatsop County Jail.
Barnett pleaded guilty to
first-degree
manslaughter,
three assault counts and driv-
ing under the influence of in-
toxicants as part of a deal with
the Clatsop County District At-
torney’s Office. She originally
faced charges of strangulation,
two additional assault counts
and three counts of felony fail-
ure to perform the duties of a
driver. If convicted on all the
charges in the indictment, she
would have faced at least 16
years in prison.
Barnett was ordered to pay
nearly $5,400 in restitution
for funeral expenses and med-
ical bills.
A Labrador named ‘Lucy’ saves man from sex conviction
Dog found in
Gearhart
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
SALEM — The discovery
of a black Labrador named
“Lucy” in Gearhart led to the
unraveling of a criminal case
Monday against an Oregon
man who had begun serving a
50-year prison sentence.
Joshua Horner, a plumber
from Redmond, was convict-
ed on April 12, 2017, of sexual
abuse of a minor.
In the trial, the complainant
testified Horner had threatened
to shoot her animals if she went
to the police about the alleged
molestation, and said she saw
him shoot her dog and kill it to
make his point.
Six months after a jury con-
victed Horner in a verdict that
was not unanimous, he asked
the Oregon Innocence Project
for help. The group took up his
case.
When the group raised con-
cerns in April about the case
LISA CHRISTON
The black Lab named “Lucy”
at McMenamins Gearhart
Golf Links in Gearhart.
with Deschutes County District
Attorney John Hummel, he
agreed to work with them.
Horner had insisted he nev-
er shot the dog. Finding the dog
would show the complainant
had lied under oath. But if it
was alive, where was it?
An Oregon Innocence Proj-
ect volunteer and an official
from Hummel’s office searched
for it. The black Lab had re-
portedly been given away. The
investigators were sniffing on
the trail, but they had trouble
tracking down the purported
dog’s owner.
“They made a couple trips
around Deschutes County; he
was not there,” said Steve Wax,
legal director of the Oregon In-
nocence Project. “We heard he
was in Seattle. Then we learned
he had a place on the Oregon
Coast.”
It was there, in Gearhart,
that the pair finally found Lucy
after her owners agreed to ren-
dezvous at a golf course.
“She was drinking a bowl
of water and sitting in shade
underneath a porch. We played
with her. Petted her. It was
wonderful,” said Lisa Christon,
the Oregon Innocence Project
volunteer.
Lucy was identified by an
undisputed chain of custody
and her looks.
“She’s a very distinc-
tive-looking black Lab; not
purebred. She’s got this ador-
able shaped head and really
long ears,” Christon said.
That key evidence showed
the complainant had not been
truthful when testifying, the
district attorney said.
“Lucy the dog was not shot.
Lucy the dog is alive and well,”
Hummel’s office said in a state-
ment.
Hummel told the court
Monday, Sept. 10, he’s not cer-
tain that Horner did not sexual-
ly abuse the complainant, but
that he’s now not convinced he
did. The Associated Press is not
naming her because it typically
does not identify alleged vic-
tims of sexual abuse.
Deschutes County Judge
Michael Adler dismissed the
case.
Horner, in a statement re-
leased by the Oregon Inno-
cence Project, thanked the
group, his family, friends and
Hummel.
“Kelli and I are ready to
pick up the pieces of our lives,”
Horner said, referring to his
wife. The couple came out of
the courthouse Monday hold-
ing hands and smiling.
Horner had walked out of
a state prison in Pendleton in
August after the Oregon Court
of Appeals reversed his con-
viction and ordered a new trial.
The appeals court said the de-
fense had not been allowed to
present certain evidence that
was unrelated to the dog.
Now, Horner no longer fac-
es that second trial. He declined
a request for an interview, say-
ing he is not ready to speak
with the media yet
After Lucy was found, the
complainant failed to attend a
meeting in August to discuss
her testimony, Hummel said.
Last Wednesday, one of his in-
vestigators heard she was at a
home near Redmond. When he
pulled up to the driveway, she
ran away.
Horner had been indicted
under a previous district attor-
ney, but the trial and conviction
came under Hummel’s watch.
Hummel said in an email the
issue of the dog being shot was
raised for the first time during
the trial, so there was no inves-
tigation to be done regarding it
prior to trial, “and we had no
credible reason to question the
statement after it was made.”
He said exonerations are a
reminder that while the U.S.
has “the best system of justice
in the world it is not perfect.
Mistakes will be made and we
should be judged by how we
respond to them.”
Wax, who was Oregon’s
former top federal public de-
fender for 31 years before
joining the Oregon Innocence
Project, said the case is highly
unusual.
“To be able to establish
that a person should not have
been convicted, you need
something objective,” Wax
said. “In most child sex abuse
cases, there is no evidence.
Finding Lucy alive showed
the complainant lied under
oath in her testimony.”
It was the first exonera-
tion for the Oregon Innocence
Project, launched in 2014
to exonerate the wrongfully
convicted and promote legal
reforms.
Wax praised Hummel for
his willingness to re-examine
the case.
“Nationwide, what Mr.
Hummel did was unusual,”
Wax said. “It is to be commend-
ed. It should be the model.”
POLICE LOG
Sept. 2
1:54 a.m., 700 block Avenue S:
The hosts of a party that went
on too long for the neighbors
agreed to wrap it up for the
night.
4:53 a.m., Bagels by the Sea:
A person wanted on a warrant
was arrested.
8:42 a.m., 1500 block S. Roo-
sevelt: An intoxicated person
making a nuisance of them-
selves was reported on; the
reporting party did not want to
press charges, but only for the
person to go away for the day.
4:31 p.m., N. Prom: A person
was arrested and charged with
carrying a concealed weapon;
interfering with a police officer;
and resisting arrest.
Sept. 3
1:15 a.m., Avenue A and
Franklin: A person is arrested
and charged with possession
of cocaine and disorderly
conduct.
3:50 a.m., 500 block Beach
Drive: A person is arrested for
carrying a concealed weap-
on; disorderly conduct; and
menacing.
7:04 p.m., 900 block N. Holla-
day: A person is arrested and
charged with assault in the
fourth degree; harassment;
and disorderly conduct.
Sept. 4
1:09 p.m., Broadway and Hol-
laday: A person reports being
threatened with a firearm
following a road-rage incident.
4:32 p.m., Edgewood and
Avenue S: A caller reports he
found the person who stole his
bike; the accused tells police
the caller stole the bike from
them earlier.
report of crab lines cut off the
12th Avenue bridge.
5:51 p.m., 800 block S.
Lincoln: Police respond to a
request for a welfare check
regarding a newborn. The
mother of the infant tells
police she will be making a
medical appointment for the
child soon.
Sept. 6
2:44 p.m., Police headquar-
ters: A person came in to
register as a sex offender.
9:26 p.m., Lewis and Clark: A
runaway is reported.
Sept. 7
3:22 a.m., Avenue A: A group
of juveniles reported running
wildly and smoking marijuana
in a parking structure took off
and were unable to be located
by police officers.
9:21 a.m., 1400 block S.
Roosevelt: Responding to an
animal complaint, police take
into custody two dogs, one for
safekeeping, the other as an
owner surrender.
2:17 p.m., 13th and Holla-
day: Two suspects are taken
into custody after passing
fraudulent currency and for
being wanted on outstanding
warrants.
4:28 p.m., 800 block S.
Lincoln: A reporting party
asks police to check again
on a newborn who they say
is not gaining weight. Police
responding say the baby looks
fine. The mother said she will
make an appointment for the
infant to check progress.
8:07 p.m., 900 block N.
Holladay: Police are asked to
help locate a possibly suicidal
person.
Sept. 5
9:45 p.m., 1200 block Avenue E:
Sex crimes are reported.
7:43 a.m., 2300 block S. Roo-
sevelt: A person is arrested for
being in violation of a restrain-
ing order.
Sept. 8
10:21 a.m., 12th Avenue
Bridge: Police investigate a
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7:48 a.m., The Cove: People
reported taking crabs off the
rocks showed police their
shellfish licenses.
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