View Single Post
Old 03-15-2010, 06:58 PM   #9 (permalink)
girldetective
sufferable
 
girldetective's Avatar
 
Although I hate to post a whole article, I think I have to int his case due to the post I started. This ran in the Sunday Oregonian this week as Steve Duin's feature column:

Quote:
Skamania County shooting case leaves ruin in 'a scintilla of evidence'
By Steve Duin, The Oregonian
March 13, 2010, 10:00AM

Each time Craig Sjoberg returns to the Skamania County Superior Court in Stevenson, Wash., the inscription behind the bench reminds him, "Justice is truth in action."

Given what he's endured the past 16 months, you can forgive the Vancouver schoolteacher for thinking the court is mocking him.

On the first day of November 2008 -- and the first day of Washington state's elk hunting season -- Sjoberg headed into the Lone Butte area of Skamania County with his Remington 760 Gamemaster 30.06.

Sjoberg, 57, has hunted in the woods since he was 14 and grew up in one of those rural Michigan towns where school is called off on the opening day of deer season. About 10:30 that morning, after five hours in his orange vest, Sjoberg took a shot at a bull elk 75 yards away and missed.

Minutes later, as he tracked the elk, Sjoberg ran into two other hunters, Tim Michalek and Alison Schnelling, introduced himself and described the near-miss.

Six hours later, the body of Juan Rojas Cortez was discovered almost a half-mile from where Sjoberg bumped into Michalek and Schnelling. Cortez, who had been gathering bear grass in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, was dead of a gunshot wound.

When The Columbian ran a story about Cortez's death Nov. 4, it noted that Skamania County sheriff's detectives were looking for a hunter named "Craig" who was driving a white Jeep Liberty and might have information about the shooting.

Sjoberg read the story and promptly called Detective Monty Buettner, leaving his cell phone on Buettner's voice mail.

"I understand why they wanted to check me out," Sjoberg says. "I was hunting in that area. Someone got shot."

Two weeks later, Sjoberg was arrested and charged with first-degree manslaughter, underlining the county's contention that he "recklessly" caused Cortez's death.

Bail was initially set at $750,000. "That was just malicious," Sjoberg said. "You set that amount on career criminals who've committed a horrible crime. I've never been arrested. I'm a teacher. I've been in the community for 25 years."

The indignities were only just beginning. Sjoberg spent a week in jail before bail was reduced to $50,000.

He was placed on administrative leave from his job as a math teacher at Shahala Middle School after Portland television crews interviewed parents of his students in the parking lot. He was castigated in blogs. The county kept his Jeep and math books in an evidence locker for a year, nine months after the crime lab was done with them.

And 16 months later, Sjoberg has yet to have his day in the courtroom that claims, "Justice is truth in action."

Beyond what it has cost his reputation -- Sjoberg has returned to teaching at Shahala -- the case has exhausted his savings. "Everything I have," Sjoberg says. "I'm broke."

Neither Christopher Lanz, the chief deputy prosecutor in Skamania County, or Steven Thayer, Sjoberg's attorney, had any comment about the case, but the heart of their arguments are on display in court filings.

In his 16-page motion to dismiss the case, Thayer reminds county prosecutors and Judge E. Thompson Reynolds that: (a) witnesses heard multiple shots that day in the area where Cortez died; (b) the shot that killed Cortez could have come from a wide variety of rifles other than Sjoberg's Remington; (c) that Sjoberg was seen more than 750 yards, two ridges and a ravine from where the body was found; and (d) Sjoberg did not hesitate to contact police.

Not only does the state present no evidence that Sjoberg was responsible for the shooting, Thayer adds, but there is no indication that Sjoberg acted recklessly.

"(T)he errant bullet," Thayer argues, "could have struck the deceased who was hidden from view crawling around in his green coat in the green bear grass in the background. That's an accident, not a crime."

Lanz responds by arguing that the state only requires "a mere scintilla of evidence" to proceed.

That scintilla? Sjoberg was in Skamania County when Cortez died. Sjoberg admitted to discharging his rifle and "all known firearms within the area were excluded" (my emphasis). What's more, Lanz notes, everyone else who was known to be hunting in the area that day said they didn't do it.

After 16 months, that argument continues to satisfy the court. Trial is set for May 10.

Sjoberg has struggled to remain philosophical, even as he has tried to parse out the agendas at play and wonder whether things can get any worse.

"I've never had much experience with the criminal justice system," he said. "I did my jury duty one time. I still believe our system is the best. Everyone knows it's not perfect. That's easier to accept when you're not on the receiving end of the not-perfect."
This was my reply (with spelling errors!!!):

Quote:
Thanks to the Oregonian for picking up and following this story regarding Skamania County. I hope it continues to follow it to its conclusion.

It has come to my attention that the Skamania County criminal court system has been earning itself a reputation as a "good old boys" network, with the sherrif, prosecutor, and judge supporting one another's decisions whether they are right, wrong, or inconclusive with regards to wrongdoing and evidence therein. As an example of their irresponsibility, prosecutor Lanz should have recused himself due to a conflict of interest in a recent case brought before this court (his daughter actaully took the stand as a witness for the prosecution).

If this court decides to go ahead with a jury trial in the Sjoberg case without physical evidence, I will suggest that Washington's Attorney General, Robert McKenna, look into the history of charges, and convictions within this particular court, with a keen eye to the possibility of utilizing a grand jury system in Skamania County rather than relying on the opinion of this judge. I would opine that a panel of responsible citizens may have a more clear picture than one old network judge in regards to evidence to convict, before using thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to bring someone to trial.

In addition to the Oregonian keeping an eye on this case, it would be in the best interest of other hunters/NRA activists to get involved. If the outcome of this case sets a precedent it could be used against them in any future accidents in which they were in the vicinity. In addition, I call upon any Court watchdogs to keep this case in mind with regards to actual evidence/witnesses vs the prosecutions opinions.

Mr. Sjoberg may want to contact the state's CLU (Criminal Investigation Unit) at the AG's office. They can begin to investigate the administration of the justice that Mr. Lanz and Judge Reynolds are meteing out, before any trial has even begun.
I am not normally one to call upon the NRA or hunters to get all festered up about something, but it seems just in this case being that they are the ones that are being hung. I feel a little hypocritical, but really it is pertinent to them.

Any other suggestions?
__________________
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons...be cheerful; strive for happiness - Desiderata

Last edited by girldetective; 03-15-2010 at 07:03 PM..
girldetective is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360