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 evidence. One of the most common questions asked after a case, no matter what the decision was, is whether the […]

Last week, I attended the quarterly Prosecutors Association meeting. This quarter it was held in Spokane so it was easy for me to attend. It is an interesting group of men and women representing very diverse areas of our state, but all of us share the same responsibilities in our respective counties. The subjects of […]

Last week I attended a session of the Veterans Court that operates here in Stevens County. The court session had a broad spectrum of cases, from new persons admitted to one person who graduated from the process. The majority of business was to review the progress of each person. The purpose of Veterans Court is […]

The Supreme Court of Washington has again signaled it will sustain legislation allowing governments to restrict the possession of weapons. This decision came from a case that tested a City of Seattle ban against carrying a concealed weapon. The Supreme Court ruled that since the Constitution does not prohibit government from doing so, the city […]

On Tuesday, March 22, Gregory Pritchett of Kettle Falls was sentenced on his plea of Guilty to two counts of Rape in the third degree. Superior Court Judge Pat Monasmith presided at the sentencing hearing. The charges arose out of his conduct with two of his clients in a massage therapy setting. One incident with […]

It happens sometimes that folks get into a situation where they make an agreement with another person to do some work for them, and events occur which neither party anticipated and the work is not done or is not done satisfactorily. The person who is unsatisfied then want criminal charges against the person who did […]

A few weeks ago, I finished reviewing the facts and circumstances surrounding the Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) that occurred in Hunters last August. The purpose of the review is to make a decision regarding whether or not the officer’s use of deadly force against a person was justified in the situation. Thus, it is important […]

Someone called me not long ago and asked whether or not an ATV was required to be licensed by the DMV if it was used on public roads. I did a little research by asking Auditor Tim Gray who is responsible for the DMV licensing office in the Court House and he gave me a […]

These provisions of the Washington Administrative Code are now in effect. The enactment of procedures to comply with these rules will require community and school leaders to work together and figure out how this can be best addressed. This is a volatile subject, but public concern must be expressed without threats of violence. There is […]

Someone asked me why I do not write more about cases that are currently in process but only give details after the fact. I appreciate the desire of people to find out about cases that that generate public interest, but I cannot comment about cases that are still in process the same way a reporter […]