Outpost -

On 1-21-13 an accident occurred at the intersection of Spotted Road and Garden Spot Road. A vehicle ignored the stop sign and took the corner at a high rate of speed. The vehicle left the roadway,...

Last week the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife put in place an emergency rule that allows livestock and animal owners in eastern Washington to kill a wolf that is attacking their animals....

The state has released statistics for DUI cases charged and resolved for every county in Washington in 2012. State wide there were 35, 385 DUIs charged. Of these cases 15,277 or 43% ended up with guil...

James Madison was a man with a lot of sense. He had many things to say about how our country should operate. Most folks must have agreed because they elected him President for a time. We could use...

A case involving a predator and a citizen protecting his property and family occurred in Bonner County, Idaho some time ago. The case involves three bears (at least one was a grizzly) that came into a...

Recently in Spokane, a man came out of his house and found that someone was in the process of stealing his SUV, which he had left running for a moment. The facts are a bit unclear, but the end of it...

Being sleep deprived is not only an annoyance but can be dangerous if you have to make critical decisions, are driving or working around machinery. The sleep you get has to be productive or the time i...

On the wall in my office I have a quote, which I clipped from some newspaper many years ago. Amos E. Reed, retired Secretary of the Department of Corrections for the State of Washington, wrote it. I...

It was recently reported in the media that a missing Oregon man was in a local hospital for two days while friends and police looked for him. He was a diabetic and had been reported missing by friends...

It is odd to me that we hear more about the ethical treatment of animals than we hear about the ethical treatment of children. At present, there are thousands of children dying in east Africa of...

On February 12, 2013, a Stevens County jury found Marion Woody guilty of Unlawful Hunting On or Retrieving Hunted Animals From the Premises of Another. The charge was the result of an incident that...

As many probably know, there was an incident at Fort Colville Elementary School on Feb 7. A handgun and a knife were seized from two students who had together had planned to kill another student and...

The Spokane Investigative Regional Response Team investigated the death of John A. Peterson last October 17. This team is made up of detectives from several agencies in this area who investigate...

The legislature is getting back into the business. There are many bills that have been introduced in both houses which, if passed, will change the legal landscape in several areas. The following list...

A few weeks ago, county law enforcement was called to a residence in the county where they found a man deceased. He was found without clothes and had obviously suffered a significant loss of blood...

Colville Police Department officers responded to an address in the city of Colville a few minutes after 8 am last Thursday morning. At the residence they found David S. Barr deceased. It appeared to o...

Not long ago I attended a meeting of the Cattlemen’s Association. The purpose of the meetings was to talk about the presence and impact of wolves in Stevens County. The meeting was an informational...

Not long ago I attended a meeting of the Cattlemen’s Association. The purpose of the meetings was to talk about the presence and impact of wolves in Stevens County. The meeting was an informational...

On October 24, very early in the morning, deputies were dispatched to the area of the Loon Lake Saloon, to investigate an assault which had just taken place. Deputies arrived and found that an elderly...

About one year ago, I took on the responsibility of the prosecution of a case in Spokane County. It was a conflict case for the prosecutor’s office there and I agreed to pursue the matter for them....

This past election, a majority of the persons who voted chose to legalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana by persons who are over 21 years old. The law left unchanged the rules...

There has been another officer involved shooting in Stevens County. This incident occurred on Friday night the 19th of October. Two Stevens County Deputies responded to a 911 call to a residence on De...

On Wednesday Oct 17, a district court jury returned a verdict of guilty of against Ms Kathy Galvin on 9 counts of criminal trespassing following a 2 day trial. The charges arose out of a situation in...

On October 4 in the afternoon, a jury returned a verdict of Guilty against Herb Friedland on a charge of Theft in First Degree. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on an accompanying...

After a jury trial, there is often an opportunity to talk with jurors and learn the things they thought were important and often to answer questions that they had about the case or about the...

On Tuesday, September 18th, two sex offenders were sentenced in Stevens County Superior Court by Judge Allen Nielson. In one case, Paul Bratcher (DOB: 7/10/1969) of Chewelah, who had earlier plead...

About three months ago, one of my deputies and I were asked about a problem that exists over the use of some land. It is not unusual for the office to consider land issues, but it is usually in the...

District Court is a busy court. There are two deputy prosecutors who handle cases there. The cases are misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor crimes with maximum sentences of 90 day for misdemeanors and...

On August 9, 2012, a jury reached a verdict in the trial of Ms. Danielle Brewster of Springdale. She had been charged with Unlawful Hunting of Big Game in the 1st Degree (felony) and Waste of Fish...

On August 9, 2012, a jury reached a verdict in the trial of Ms. Danielle Brewster of Springdale. She had been charged with Unlawful Hunting of Big Game in the 1st Degree (felony) and Waste of Fish...

This past week, Matthew Thomas Richmond of Loon Lake pleaded guilty to Assault in the Second Degree with a Firearm Enhancement. The charge arose out of a road rage incident between two young men on...

About two months ago, Christopher G. Nichols, age 28, was convicted by a jury of multiple counts of Unlawful Possession of a Firearms, Theft of Firearms, Burglary, Theft of Motor Vehicle and...

In a recent decision, The United States Supreme Court has decided that “the Eighth Amendment forbids a sentencing scheme that mandates life in prison without possibility of parole for juvenile...

From a recent press release, we learn that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has confirmed a wolf pack is living in Stevens County. WDFW has named this group of wolves the...

There were several changes to our laws which strengthen efforts to stop DUI driving. The changes range from increasing the fines to longer sentences and enhancements for having children present in...

On Friday, June 15, a superior court jury returned a verdict of guilty on all 21 counts in the trial of Christopher George Nichols, 26, of Colville. He was convicted of nine counts of Unlawful...

Last week a county resident came to my office with a concern about whether he was going to be charged with a crime. He showed me a letter he had received from a state agency. The letter said it had...

In an article written by Andrew Price, “Saying sorry better than Prison,” he writes that a new way to deal with young offenders has been started in Northern Ireland. They have been experimenting...

Red Skelton--- an American, (quoting his childhood teacher) said in 1969: “Boys and girls, I have been listening to you recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester and it appears that it has...

Last week the office filed charges of a very unusual nature. Terry Lee Verhaag, DOB 10/20/63, has been charged with three counts of Unlawful Removal of Grave Markers. These are felony charges. The...

Here is another example of the fact that even after a person pleads guilty the case may not be over. Rocky Rhodes Kimble pleaded guilty in March of 2000 to crimes of First Degree Rape and Residential...

While the majority of the legislature’s work this year was focused on the budget problems facing our state, there were some important changes made to laws which affect the prosecution of criminal...

Last Tuesday, April 17, there was the sentencing hearing for Craig Cosby, who had been convicted on March 30 of Premeditated Murder in the killing of his wife on October 3, 2009. Judge Nielson...

On Tuesday, April 10, Collette M. Pierce, 25, pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder. She was involved in the July 17, 2011 killing of Colville resident Gordon Feist. She is the last of three people...

The trial of Craig R. Cosby was held last week in Superior Court. Mr. Cosby was charged with First Degree Murder in the killing of his wife Susan on October 3, 2009, in Marcus, Washington. Judge...

On Wednesday, March 14, 2012, Shaun Clinton Brundage, 31, of Moses Lake was convicted by a District Court jury of Unlawful Hunting of Big Game in the Second Degree. Mr. Brundage traveled to Stevens...

Serious charges against three persons were resolved by guilty pleas in Superior Court last week. Mr. David M. Ordway, 19, pleaded guilty as charged to First Degree Assault on a Child. He assaulted...

The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Sean J. Bergstrasser, 21, in a room at Benny’s Motel in Colville was completed and delivered to my office about two weeks ago. Mr....

Last week the Court of Appeals confirmed the felony conviction of Michael Hazelmyer of Springdale. He was convicted in 2010 of one felony count of Harassment (threats to kill) in a trial before Judge...

This letter has been sent to our State Representatives by me and many Prosecutors across the state. I am not the original author of the letter and have edited it slightly for this publication, but it...