Prosecutors Desk 8-21-11

Last week, after 4 days of trial and after 3 hours of deliberation, a Superior Court jury acquitted Todd Chism of all charges.  The charges arose out of an incident that occurred last spring, when 2 WSP troopers had contact with him just opposite his home on Hwy 291.  He had been charged with several counts including felony charges of Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer.  After acquitting Chism of the charges, the jury made a finding that he had acted in self-defense.

Last week I attended a seminar here in Colville on the subject of Elder Abuse. The seminar was organized by Connie Jackson, the elder abuse services coordinator for Rural Resources. The materials were presented by a team of people from Spokane County who work together on these cases.  The seminar was attended by about 40 people from the area who are involved in the identification, investigation, prosecution and prevention of crimes against the elder citizens of our county.

Elder Abuse can take many forms, such as physical neglect, emotional abuse, physical injury, assault, financial exploitation and others. This problem is hidden and does not often make the headlines, but it affects the lives of far too many people.  Statistics show that nearly all elder abuse is done by family members, with physical abuse occurring most often in the context of providing care.  Sometimes the motive is financial, but often the abuse is the result of caregivers being overstressed and unable to cope with the responsibility of caring for those who cannot care for themselves.

Please do not fail to contact a Law Enforcement agency if you have concerns about the health or safety of an elderly person.   There are people and agencies that will help.  Don’t refuse to become involved by thinking it is none of your business.   Elder abuse, like child abuse, is everybody’s business.

I have decided not to file a charge in a WDFW case involving the killing of a cougar north of Pierre Lake last December.  The violation was in the killing of a cougar by a neighbor after it had killed an elderly lady’s dog and was still near her home.  Wildlife officers had been contacted, but the neighbor took action before the officers arrived.  While I declined to bring criminal charges in this case because the violation occurred in the context of the protection of property and possibly human life; poaching and other wildlife offenses have been and will continue to be prosecuted.

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