Friday, August 31, 2012

Breaking News From Daily Astorian: Astoria DUII Battle Takes A Surprise Turn

By CHELSEA GORROW - The Daily Astorian

There’s a surprising new twist in the case for control of the driving under the influence of intoxicants cases in the city of Astoria.City Attorney Blair Henningsgaard has said he is forwarding all of the criminal cases to the district attorney Josh Marquis in an “all-or-nothing” approach to a judge’s ruling Aug. 20, that gave Marquis control of DUIIs, but in Municipal Court.

Read Full Daily Astorian Article

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, Josh learns to be careful what he wishes for. Hopefully we taxpayer will not be responsible for paying the additional costs for the DA's ego.

Anonymous said...

This will eliminate the Astoria municipal court, since the city can contract with the state court administrator for the circuit court to adjudicate municipal cases that have no parallels in state law. Since the municipal court revenues about equal its cost (Astoria budget), it looks like losing the municipal court will have a neutral affect on Astoria. But, having around 3000 more cases a year will certainly require Josh to have more staff, and that will cost the county or Josh will have to dump cases. I think everyone understands that the county cannot charge Astoria for the additional costs, and still must send Astoria its share of the fines, since Astoria has always been able to send all traffic and criminal cases to the state courts.
What do people think about this?

Anonymous said...

Actually its only criminal cases and the DA can handle those easily.
But what happened to all the special care only the Muni Court could bring?
They lost so now they're sulking?
You have to wonder how many staff Muni Court and the City Attorney will need since the DA will be doing all the criminal cases, not just DUIIs.
Remember how much money the City claims it made? What happens to that?
This should be a win/win with the city taxpayers having to pay less and county taxpayers not having to pay any more for the DA's office.

Anonymous said...

Apparently there is no more need for a city prosecutor, defense attorney,
or much of a city judge, so I guess
we'll see a big reduction in city costs.
It'll be up to the DA and county
to tell us whether they need any more
staff but this looks like the City
cutting off it's nose to spite it's face.

Anonymous said...

I'm happy the city is giving up the municipal court and maybe this will encourage all the other cities to do that to. There is really no need for municipal courts anymore. And, if our DA wants to make sure everything is on the up and up, the only way is for him to do it all. I was told he told the county commission that taking Astoria cases would not cost any more money, so he needs to be held to that. After all, he got want he wanted.

Anonymous said...

I don't have the current list, although I bet the Daily A could get it, but from information I got from the Citizen Police Academy in 2006, APD had about 3,000 person, property and behavorial crimes and 1,600 traffic tickets. That doesn't sound like just a few more crimes to me.

Anonymous said...

3000 crimes and they handle it in one evening a week.
Wow...that's impressive.
Of course they reduce all of them to infractions....to make money.
Check the published county budget for actual number of cases the DA's office files from 7 police agencies....

Anonymous said...

The other cities in Clatsop County all give their criminal cases and DUIIs to the DA already, so now apparently the City has changed its mind now that it lost in court.
And as some poster here said is hoping the DA won't be able to handle the increased workload without asking for more help which he said he wouldn't need.
Of course we don't get from the reading the paper.

Anonymous said...

Wow, some people seem really pissed at Astoria for doing almost anything. All the other cities give their criminal cases to the DA, Astoria reduces all the crimes to infractions to make money, Astoria police only work one evening a week, etc. Hope the DA agrees.

Anonymous said...

People in Clatsop County cannot believe that the astoria city council will do what district attorney marquis wants. Marquis thinks kaino is corrupt, but he cannot prove it. Marquis thinks that astoria wants people charged with crimes without evidence to pay fines and walk away, but that would be illegal and Marquis cannot prove what he thinks. Is Steve Forrester, the long time owner of the newspaper he inherited, and enemy of Mayor Willis Van Dusen behind this? Is Marquis a pawn of Forrester? Maybe time will tell and maybe not. But, we should look at the facts and make our decisions on who to vote for and what to buy based on what we kno not what our newspaper editor tells us.

Patrick McGee said...

OK, let's look at those facts.
You have them?
Let'er rip tater chip!

Anonymous said...

How about Josh says the Municipal Judge, a lawyer, is corrupt, but does not institute bar sanctions against him? Will that work for a start?

Anonymous said...

Where did the DA say the Judge was corrupt?
There is a record of the Judicial Fitness Commission bringing action against Kaino and it being dismissed ONLY because the Supreme Court decided that Muni Court judges were not real judges and NOBODY supervised them.
http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/Publications/S49792.htm

Anonymous said...

So,Anon, Judge Kaino did not violate the law or the ethics of the Oregon Bar or the ethics of the Judiciary. Then, what is Josh's problem? Is he really just trying to get Steve Forrester's praise?

Anonymous said...

No, actually, Josh is bored. He talked Governor Roberts into appointing him to replace defamed Julie Leonhardt so he could start his career as an elected lawyer and move up to US Attorney, State AG or even the US Attorney General. But, he has pissed off so many people, he can't move up because he is not taken seriously. Now, he just rattles around in his box filled office looking for things to do. He is motivated by Steve Forrester, since Steve is the only press here and is a kindred spirt who wants to fill bigger pants than he can ever manage. Josh also has a burning need to expand his empire, but even his cronie, sheriff bergin, doesn't like him. Josh can't actually find anything illegal or unethical to sink his teeth into, so, he just uses the Forrester media to push the edges of the envelope hoping to find fame. That, unfortunately for us, is the entire story.
And, it will continue to be the story until Josh retires or dies.

Anonymous said...

Marquis has been DA longer than anyone ever in Clatsop County history.
He's been acknowledged by other lawyers in state and federal prosecution and the American Bar Association as one of the best in his field. In 20 years he never sought any other job other than US Attorney for which he was one of two finalists considered by the White House.
It's relatively easy to run for DA in Oregon against an incumbent. No experience required, no residency requirement, yet he's been elected 5 times. Those people who don't like him (because his office DOES aggressively prosecute child molesters, repeat drunk drivers and others even from 'prominent' local families' who break the law) made much the same noise about "this was it, Marquis days were numbered" just before the 2006 and 2010 elections yet they couldn't find anyone to run.
Sheriff Bergin stood by him a in 2010 at every ridiculous City Council meeting and said it best - "This guy's willing to you dig a ditch for free."
What is is really about is a Mayor with 3 DUIIs, a dying good old boy power structure (since purged from county government) who are furious that we have a DA who stands up for them and won't let them play with their bottles at least while they drive. Every single outside entity that has ever looked in on this circus has thought the City of Astoria were like a small southern town in the 50s run by a charming version of Boss Hogg.
The City was told by the AG they were wrong, told by Judge Norblad they were wrong, yet they will never admit they've lost. Just keep lining Blair's pocket as part of food old boy lawyer's city enrichment act.
Bottom line, this isn't about Marquis. Any other independent ethical DA would be doing the same thing.

Anonymous said...

Marquis is just another blood sucking bureaucrat with his yellow decaying fangs embedded in the public artery. Why he is still here is a mystery, especially after his dishonest attempt to bilk the county and state out of money he wasn't entitled to would have gotten him fired in the private sector and possibly prosecuted. He's dead ended here and where most men his age would've taken up private practice he still holds on to his flimsy shred of hope that he is going to climb the political ladder-=it aint happening.

Anonymous said...

..."3,000 person, property and behavorial crimes"

That averages almost 10 crimes a day..I don't believe it.

Anonymous said...

So a DA that stays in his job is dead-ended because he's not in private practice?
That's the theory that we only want the least competent go-along losers as DA. Apparently not what voters have said in the last 5 elections.
Don't see Marquis climbing any political ladder so what the hell is your point?

Patrick McGee said...

Funny thing is this piece is touting Attorney Henningsgaard/Mayor Van Dusen and cronies surprisingly turning all DUII and Criminal cases over to the District Attorney's office for prosecution in Circuit Court and now....Their strategy is to appeal the decision because in their, view....."It's a mess"?

Anonymous said...

If you would like the actual data for work our law enforcement agencies do, go to oregon.gov and search the Oregon Annual Uniform Crime Reports.
To save you time, this data shows that in 2010 (the latest year available), the Astoria Police handled:
156 crimes against persons
803 crimes against property
1225 behavorial crimes
for a total of 2253. Crime means a violation of state statute punishable by fine and/or imprisonment, not city code violations.
This data does not include traffic tickets, so add another 1500 or so to that.
As I recall, the District Attorney handles about 1000 cases a year total, so adding a large percentage of the 2253 Astoria cases which now go to the municipal court and, maybe the traffic tickets, will certainly have an affect on his staff. He has said in him blog, however, that he will not ask for more money, so it will be interesting to learn what happens to the new cases. As always, we hope Patrick tracks this information as our county commission reporter so we can see how justice is done here.

Anonymous said...

as opposed to who, Patrick McGee, "Riverbear" and their cronies?

Patrick McGee said...

The bottom line, as Judge Norblad has ruled........"It's the law"...as it always has been.....ORS 8.660.

Anonymous said...

With all the decisions and cases over several years that you have mentioned, DUII cases still go to Astoria Municipal Court. If it is the law as you say, why doesn't our top law enforcement officer (Marquis, by his own words) enforce it?

Lack of courage or capability?

Does he let most lawbreakers wait years before prosecution?

Patrick McGee said...

That's question you will have to ask D.A. Marquis and he does have a Blog and he doesn't tend to shy away from issues that he comment on.

Anonymous said...

Well, he sure hasn't answered it, has he?

Anonymous said...

Patrick, to answer your question on the other message about the source of crime data: the source is the Uniform Crime Reports section of Oregon.gov. It shows crimes handled by type for each law enforcement agency in the state. For example, in 2010 Astoria handled 2253 crimes and made 640 arrests, the Sheriff handled 815 crimes and made 263 arrests, Seaside handled 1321 crimes and made 769 arrests and so on for a total of 5213 crimes and 1976 arrests.
Now, if the report on that other message that the DA handles 1200 cases a year is correct, this is considerably less than the crimes handled by the police departments and even less than the number of arrests. So, a legitimate question for Josh would be, where does the excess go?
Since Josh is a great proponent of records, there should be a place we can go that shows the number of cases he received and the numbers of dispositions: sent to trial, plea bargained down to lesser crimes, dismissed and turned into violations so the DA doesn't have to deal with them (as you know, with violations the police officer is required to be the prosecutor so the DA is not involved).
Do you know where information regarding the DA's work is recorded like this?

Anonymous said...

Learn the difference between data police departments report and those that ever circuit court in Oregon does. Compare Clatsop County to any othercounty. If the city had all these crimes what the hell happened to the criminals? They didn't go to trial or to jail?
The fact is the City lost and they can't have their bottles anymore and the Good Old Boys are furious with the DA for not understanding that only NBAs run things.

Anonymous said...

Terrific idea, thanks. Now, how do I get the data for comparison of DA's offices (not courts, that is entirely different). I would like to know how many cases were received, how many were plea bargained down to lesser crimes, how many were dismissed, how many went to trial and how many were declared violatons so the DA did not have to deal with them at all. I assume from your comment that I should compare Clatsop county to others, you have access to this information. Would you please share that access?

Patrick McGee said...

You'd probaly have to use your real name on this one "Anonym" but, you could likely get that data directly from the District Attorney's office....you think?

Anonymous said...

I would think that, but, no. Even using my real name the DA's Office will not tell me where to get that data. In fact, I was told they "probably" do not keep that information. All I could get was the total number of cases they sent to court for adjudication in past years. This, of course, does not reveal the number of cases they receive, or the number dismissed. It does indicate the number of cases prosecuted and the number plea bargained (because the judge has to agree with the bargain) but not the number reduced to violations so DA's office is not involved. It appears to me that the DA reduces almost all the non class A misdemeanors to violations and simply dumps them back to the police. Josh has been reported to say that is what the Astoria Municipal prosecutor does to avoid having to take cases to court. Interesting!
Do you, Patrick, have a better source of information?

Patrick McGee said...

It appears "Anonym"?
Has been reported "Anonym"?

Let me have your name and email address and if I do get my hands on that kind of information I will gladly send it to you.

Anonymous said...

It seems to me that we taxpayers should have access to the work of our elected officials without having to disclose any information. It seems to me that in this age of computerized data we should be able to access the official's website and get workload information.
Is knowing what the DA does in the terms discussed here so sensitive that he needs to control access?
How about, when you get your hands on this information please give me your phone number and I will call you to arrange to get it?