On March 12, 2012 a trial was held in the Stevens County Superior Court involving James “Danny” Cannon. Mr. Cannon was charged with Attempting to Elude a Pursuing Police Officer and Bail Jumping.

The Attempting to Elude charge stemmed from an incident on May 19, 2011 when Deputy James Glover saw and recognized Mr. Cannon driving and attempted to stop him. Instead of stopping, Mr. Cannon fled from Deputy Glover. During the trial Deputy Glover described to the jury that at points during the pursuit he was travelling 100 mph and Mr. Cannon was pulling away from him. Mr. Cannon did finally elude Deputy Glover, but was ultimately arrested on that charge a few weeks later. The jury heard testimony from Deputy Glover as well as Terry Coffendoffer, one of the Stevens County dispatchers.

Mr. Cannon was also charged with the offense of Bail Jumping for failing to appear in court on January 17, 2012. The State was represented by Lech Radzimski and Nicholas Force. Mr. Cannon was represented by James Irwin. After deliberating for approximately two hours, the jury returned guilty verdicts on both offenses. Sentencing is presently scheduled for March 27, 2012 before Judge Patrick Monasmith.

On Friday, March 23, 2012 there was a meeting among persons interested in setting up a veteran’s court in Stevens County. The meeting was attended by about 25 to 35 people including Judge Tviet, Judge Aronow, members from the local defense bar, folks from Rural Resources, members from various veterans groups, and some treatment providers. Deputy Prosecutor Nicholas Force represented the Prosecutor’s office at the meeting.

Judge Aronow talked about Spokane’s veteran’s court and the need that exists to address the problems that veterans sometimes have in adjusting to civilian life. This was followed by about a question and answer period. Many groups expressed approval of starting such a court.

We still need to sort out some treatment, assessment, and other issues before we can begin the program, but I’m hoping these can have those resolved in the next few weeks. Overall, the discussion was helpful and I believe this was a good first step in establishing a veteran’s court in our county.