Wrongfully Convicted Prisoners Released as New York Prosecutors Review Tainted Cases; $23.4 Million in Settlements Thus Far
by Mark Wilson
Scores of prisoners from New York City have claimed for years that they were framed by now-retired Brooklyn Detective Louis Scarcella, 63. Based on an investigation into Scarcella’s tactics as ...
One-Continuous-Sentence Rule Governs Colorado Parole Eligibility Dates
by Mark Wilson
The Colorado Supreme Court held last year that state prison officials had misapplied the law and miscalculated a prisoner’s parole eligibility date (PED) for his consecutive sentence.
Colorado law requires the Department of Corrections (DOC) to treat a prisoner’s consecutive ...
Massachusetts Power Struggle over Cronyism Blocks Assistant Court Clerk Hiring
by Mark Wilson
An apparent power struggle over the proposed hiring of an assistant clerk in the Hingham District Court in Massachusetts, southeast of Boston, has blocked the daughter of a prominent attorney from taking the $104,000 position, leaving her ...
California Legislation Permitting NVDP Incarceration Held Unconstitutional
by Mark Wilson
The California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, held on January 20, 2015 that a section of California’s realignment legislation improperly amended Proposition 36, a voter initiative, in violation of the state constitution.
In 2000, California voters enacted Prop 36, which ...
New Health Care Provider Picked for Oregon Jail after Audit Criticizes Corizon
by Mark Wilson
A Birmingham, Alabama health care company has taken over medical care at the Washington County jail in Hillsboro, Oregon in the wake of a scathing audit that led county officials to terminate a contract with ...
Oregon Immigration Court Second Slowest in Nation; 80 Percent Slower Than 2008
by Mark Wilson
The national average to resolve an immigration case is 898 days, according to a Syracuse University statistical research group. Oregon’s immigrant court, however, takes an average of 1,178 days - or more than three years - to resolve cases. Only Nebraska is slower.
The cases include refugees who apply for asylum, people who overstay their visas, border crossers and others. The delay data focused only on cases in which immigrants were granted relief from deportation.
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) found that nationally the delay increased 37 percent, from 657 days in 2008 to 898 days in 2013. During the same period, Oregon’s delay increased 80 percent from 656 days to 1,178 days, despite a small reduction in its immigration case backlog between 2011 and 2013.
Officials at the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) - the United States Justice Department agency which supervises immigration courts - refused to comment on why Oregon’s pace is so extraordinarily slow.
“The caseload in every immigration court, including in Portland, Oregon, is tied directly to both the number of cases that the Department of Homeland Security files ...
Oregon Conviction Tainted by Detective’s claimed Ability to Detect Lies
by Mark Wilson
On November 26, 2013, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed a drug conviction, holding that a jury was unfairly prejudiced by a detective’s claim that he could determine that the defendant was lying because of pauses in his speech.
In 2010, Baker County Detective Craig Rilee followed Michael A. Watt into a restaurant across the street from the Baker City High School. Watt handed a bag to a woman inside the restaurant and left. Oregon State Police seized the bag, discovering 20 grams of methamphetamine inside.
Watts was then detained and interrogated. He told Rilee that he was in Baker City to hunt, fish and possibly buy auto parts. Rilee wasn’t buying it.
Watts was arrested on charges of methamphetamine possession and delivery within 1,000 feet of a school. The case went to trial and Rilee testified.
“I have been trained to look at all the facets of a person’s answers that they give,” Rilee told the jury. “The verbal cues, the tone and pitch of their voice.”
Rilee testified that he knew Watts was lying by the way he spoke. “When I asked a question, after ...
No Oregon Constitutional Right to “Full” Victim Restitution; Contributory Negligence May Limit Restitution Award
by Mark Wilson
On October 3, 2013, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s refusal to grant a crime victim “full restitution,” based upon a finding that she was 90 percent liable for her injuries.
Oregon crime victims have a constitutional “right to receive prompt restitution” under Article I, section 42(d)(1) of the Oregon Constitution. They also have a statutory right to restitution in “the full amount” of their “economic damages” under ORS 137.106(l)(a).
Daniel Algeo was driving drunk when he hit and seriously injured two women who were walking across the street. One woman, identified as JWP, was transported by Life Flight helicopter, due to a skull fracture.
Algeo pleaded guilty and was sentenced to jail, probation, fines and suspension of his driver’s license. The prosecutor requested restitution in the “full amount” of JWP’s economic damages, under ORS 137.106(1).
On July 17, 2012, the trial court awarded “restitution in an amount equal to 10 percent of [JWP’s] economic damages.” Applying a “contributory negligence” analysis, the court found that JWP was “jaywalking” when Algeo hit her, and concluded that her “unlawful activity, rather than ...
Prison Health Services Must Indemnify Vermont against Wrongful Death Claims
by Mark Wilson
On December 20, 2013, the Vermont Supreme Court held that Corizon Health, Inc. – formerly Prison Health Services, Inc. (PHS) – was required to defend the State against a wrongful death action brought by a prisoner’s estate. ...
Absent Bad Faith No PRA Sanctions for Washington Prisoners
by Mark Wilson
On October 29, 2013, the Washington State Court of Appeals held that prisoners are ineligible for Public Records Act (PRA) violation sanctions, without a showing of bad faith. The court also held that prison surveillance video recordings are exempt from disclosure.
Washington prisoner Derek E. Gronquist made an August 5, 2007 PRA request to the Department of Corrections (DOC) for records and video surveillance related to a June 17, 2007 assault at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center. On October 26, 2007, DOC disclosed 96 pages of responsive documents, but inadvertently omitted one page. It denied disclosure of the surveillance videos, claiming that they were exempt under Washington statute (RCW) 42.56.420(2)(2005).
On July 27, 2009, Gronquist filed a superior court action, seeking sanctions for nondisclosure of the surveillance video recordings and the inadvertently omitted page, which was produced during the litigation.
The court found that DOC had violated the PRA by withholding the one page, but it had done so inadvertently, not in bad faith. The court ordered DOC to pay Gronquist a PRA penalty of $15 per day for 24 days, for a total of $260. It also ...
