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In the criminal justice system, the term “auto decline” is occasionally used. It is not about automobiles in any way. The term refers to part of the process used to determine whether a juvenile will be treated as an adult if the juvenile is...

In a recent story published in public media, a California juror posted personal comments about the trial on Facebook after instructions from the court not to tweet, to stay off the Internet, and away from the media. The juror was dismissed from the...

A few weeks ago, Matt Enzler and I attended a training program related to the investigation and prosecution of Vehicular Homicide and Vehicular Assault cases. The program was conducted in Spokane Valley at the Spokane County Sherriff's Training...

Tuesdays can be busy in Superior Court, because it is the day that the criminal docket is handled. Some cases are continued to another day, (usually by agreement); in some cases the parties and the court determine the “status” of the case (in...

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) issued a press release to remind hunters that cougars are also fair game anywhere in the state. Under this year's rules, deer hunters with a valid cougar license and transport tag can take a couga...

On August 16, James Earl Richards pleaded guilty to two counts of Rape in the 3rd Degree, for sexually assaulting two young women this summer. These women were friends of his children and had been around him and his family for some time. The two...

This election, voters are faced with several issues which have been getting lots of play in the media. One is Initiative 1183. This has to do with the distribution of liquor in the State of Washington. This measure would close state liquor stores,...

This past week, the Attorney General's Office sent out a press release to warn people about a text message scam which has become active recently. The purpose of the text messages is to lure people to provide financial information in response to what...

Last week additional charges were filed in the matter of the murder of Gordon Fiest of Colville who was killed on July 17. Charges of Murder in the First Degree and in the alternative Murder in the Second Degree, were filed against Jesse Felmann-Shim...

Last Tuesday, James Ernest Guinn, Jr. of Evans, Washington pleaded guilty to one count of Rape of a Child in the First Degree. There had been other state charges against him related to child pornography, but they were dropped in our court because...

Every week or two, the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys summarizes the cases that have been decided by the Appellate Courts that are of interest to prosecutors and others in the justice system. Here is a sampling of the recent...

Last week, after four days of trial and after three hours of deliberation, a Superior Court jury acquitted Todd Chism of all charges. The charges arose out of an incident that occurred last spring, when two WSP troopers had contact with him just...

On Wednesday, August 3, after deliberating for about 3 hours, a Superior Court returned a guilty verdict against Jody Boring. She was found guilty of Trafficking in Stolen Property in the Second Degree. The jury also found as an aggravating circumsta...

This past week was very busy in the office. The week started with the report of the murder of Gordon Feist of Colville. The Stevens County Sheriff's office worked to investigate this killing, and within four days, detectives made an arrest. Eric...

A week or so ago, a local farmer and rancher called me and told me about an incident with a predator. This incident was not about a cougar, but involved an adult bear that had probably killed the rancher's livestock. The man told me he was out in...

Last week the Stevens County Sheriff's Office continued the investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the situation of Francis Swan of Kettle Falls. A search of her residence was conducted and many items were seized which will be...

One case is finally finished.-- maybe. On Wednesday, May 2, 2007, Mr. Preston Carbary was convicted by a jury of three felony counts of Rape by a Health Care Worker. At the time, he was counseling the victim and used his position to force the victim...

Documents filed with the court show that on May 25 and 26, 2011, the Stevens County Sheriffs Office investigated an Animal Cruelty complaint involving horses that were on property owned by John Herbert Friedlund. A local veterinarian was called and...

Last Friday, I finished a task I have been working on for several days. I have been reading the material which was developed in the investigation that was conducted as a result of the officer involved shooting in our county on March 5, 2011. There...

There were some changes to the medical marijuana law this year. The Governor vetoed some of the bill which the legislature passed because it was in conflict with federal law and would place some state workers at risk of federal prosecution. Here are...

On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, the sentencing of James Swinney on a charge of Homicide by Controlled Substances was finally concluded. The charge arose out of a tragic situation in March of 2010, when Mr. Swinney obtained some methamphetamine and shared i...

I recently watched a hearing before the Supreme Court on TVW. The issue was whether Cecil Davis' conviction for Aggravated Murder and sentence of death should be overturned a second time. I then searched the web for information on persons in Washingt...

Beware! There are people who are willing to lie, cheat and say anything so that others will believe and do something they want. Most of these people will promise something to get something. Members of the public should be cautious of any promise by...

RUPERT SALMON pleaded guilty on Friday April 1, 2011 to Theft in the First Degree with Aggravating Circumstances (the amount of money involved was greater than typical for this offense). The charges arose out of the fact that in the summer of 2009,...

Law Enforcement agencies are called when people need help with a situation or want to report something that happened. Officers are trained to take whatever actions the circumstances warrant. They take information, collect evidence, may make arrests...

On Wednesday of last week, the United States Attorney's office in Spokane issued a statement regarding the marijuana stores that have opened in eastern Washington. The release noted that more than 40 of these stores have opened in Spokane County....

Last week there was a jury trial in District Court. The defendant was charged with Obstructing a Law Enforcement Officer. The charge was the result of the defendant's refusal to follow the commands of a Sherriff's Deputy at the scene of a fire in...

Several years ago the Medical Marijuana Act was passed by a voter initiative. This act allows patients who suffer from terminal or debilitating illnesses to have limited use of marijuana if authorized by a health care provider. Possession of...

In the past few months, we have seen an increase in cases where people are stealing from their relatives. The thefts go beyond the usual stealing that some young folks inflict on their parents, especially those young people who have gotten...

People are required to come to court when they are sent a summons or when they have received a subpoena or are ordered by the court to appear. If they do not come, several things can happen. The court can issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the...

Three weeks ago a jury returned a verdict of guilty on one count of Trespassing and one count of Malicious Mischief against Mr. Dana Henry. The trial was the result of an incident last fall when Mr. Henry went onto the property of his neighbor and...

Christian Williams has entered a plea of Guilty to Robbery in 1st Degree and Bribing a Witness. He was facing sentencing for this crime and for his previous conviction in Superior Court on a charge of Residential Burglary. This resolution brings to...

Last week there were two jury trials in District Court. Both involved the killing of animals. One was a wildlife violation and the other a neighbor shooting a neighbor's dog. The first trial was the cases of Michael Christoff and Alan Orr. They had...

A typical week for the prosecutor's office involves court appearances at several different kinds of dockets, contact with Law Enforcement, and preparation of cases for court and for upcoming trials. Monday morning is the Infraction docket in...

This past December 31 marked the last day of employment for Esther Hillbrant. She retired after many years of service to Stevens County in various offices. The last 20 years or so were in the Prosecutor's office. She was always ready to help in any...

There were two jury trials in District Court this past week. Each trial lasted just one day from jury selection to the deliverance of a verdict. In the first, Mr. John Wilkinson, a supervisor for Ferrell Gas, was convicted of Assault in the Fourth...

On Friday evening at about 6:00, a jury returned a verdict in a trial regarding a theft of merchandize from the Colville Wal-Mart. The persons convicted are Randy Del McReynolds, and Randy Scott McReynolds. They were found guilty of Second Degree...

Mr. William Willard was driving north towards Newport October 3, 2010. He had been drinking. In a moment of inattention, he drifted into the southbound lane. He would have hit the southbound pickup pulling a car trailer, except for the alert driver...

Last week I wrote about a trial that was in progress; the trial of Leonard Boston on Delivery of Heroin charges. At the start of the trial, Mr. Boston was charged with 4 counts of Delivery of Heroin and one count of Possession of Heroin with Intent...

Late in the evening of July 25, 2010, three Washington State Troopers were working an accident investigation scene in the south part of Stevens County. The Troopers were from Spokane County because Troopers from Stevens County were working in the...

Sometime during the night of May 4th or in the early morning of May 5th, a home in the Suncrest area was broken into while the elderly couple who lived there were sleeping. The burglars took several things from the home including jewelry and...

This past week was relatively quiet in the court system. One unusual thing is that we were involved with the Extradition process with 3 different defendants. Two of them did the usual thing and waived the entire process and returned to where they...

Last week there was a jury trial in District Court. The defendant, Mr. Bruce Tenut was charged with one count of Reckless Endangerment. The charge arose out of an incident that occurred in April of this year, when Mr. Tenut was shooting a very large...

CHRISTIAN VERN WILLIAMS was convicted of Residential Burglary and First Degree Trafficking in Stolen Property after a jury trial ended last Wednesday, October 13. The burglary occurred on April 12, 2010. He had previously lived in the residence with...

On Thursday afternoon, after a trial that lasted all day, Michael Hazelmyer of Springdale, was found guilty of Felony Harassment-Threats to Kill. He was acquitted of an additional charge of Trespassing. The state was represented by deputy Prosecutor...

Last week I shared with you a recent Court of Appeals decision that has impacted our ability to prosecute persons charged with Driving While License Suspended. Driving While License Suspended in the Third degree is one such offense that was impacted...

SPOKANE, A 57-year-old Chattaroy, Washington man convicted of First-Degree Murder last month was discovered dead in his Spokane County Jail cell early Monday. Christopher H. Devlin was convicted of aggravated murder in a lengthy Stevens County trial...

The internet, and the ability to instantly transfer money has advantages, but there are scams operating that can result in the loss of money, if people are not careful. In recent weeks, we have received reports of scams that have taken advantage of p...

Valley Victory To follow up on a previous article: I was happy to find out that the problem caused by a mistake in the zoning map in the town of Valley has been resolved and the community project there was allowed to go forward. The sponsors of the...

Drink a gallon of water every day, don't eat meat, eat only protein, stick with all vegetables, go a on a high fat diet, eat sticks and stones, well the last one may never make it to prime time TV but if it did some fool would try it. Many Americans...