Serving Albany and beyond Defense Attorney Albany

Originally held for murder, man sentenced for misdemeanor A Corvallis man originally charged with murder solicitation was convicted of a misdemeanor this week in Benton County Circuit Court, ending a case that his defense attorney said was grossly overcharged. The defendant plead no contest Monday to solicitation to commit reckless burning, and was sentenced to a year of probation and jail time already served. "My client, for the record, maintains that he did not commit this crime," said Corvallis lawyer Jennifer Nash. The plea offer was made by the prosecution mid-trial, after Nash cross-examined the state's witnesses. The prosecutor said he perceived the jury didn't react well to testimony from the main witness in the case. The defendant was arrested Oct. 2 and accused of offering another man $1,000 to kill his girlfriend by burning a mobile home with her in it. Based on information obtained during the investigation, he was initially charged with two counts of solicitation of aggravated murder, a crime that has a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.

An Albany man was acquitted of charges that he sexually assaulted two girls in Philomath when they were 7 and 9 years old. The defendant, 31, was released Friday from the Benton County Jail after spending 17 months in jail on charges of first-degree rape and two counts of first-degree sex abuse. After a week-long trial, a 12-person jury found the defendant not guilty on all three charges. The crimes were alleged to occur in 2004, but they were not reported until 2010. The elder girl involved in the case has an intellectual disability and severe communication deficits. She told her foster mother of the abuse in short phrases and gestures, indicating that the defendant was the person responsible. She was not able to testify verbally, however, due to her level of functioning. Nicolas Ortiz, who is the defendant’s attorney, said that psychology professor Daniel Reisberg of Reed College, an expert witness for the defense, testified that the younger girl's combination of general and specific memory was inconsistent with the way memory works. Commenting on the case, the Deputy District Attorney wrote in an e-mail to the Gazette-Times: "I can say that the jury clearly gave a lot of thought and deliberation to this case ... They went out around 4 p.m. on Thursday and did not return with a verdict until around 3 p.m. the next day."

A 22-year-old Hillsboro man was acquitted of rape and sex abuse charges Monday after a two-day trial in Corvallis ended with a judge's verdict. Circuit Judge Locke Williams said that inconsistencies in testimony and a lack of physical evidence led him to find the defendant not guilty of first-degree rape, second-degree sex abuse and third-degree sex abuse. The defendant was accused of raping a woman he met during a party at a townhouse on May 17, 2009. Witnesses reported that there were more than 100 people at the party. "All of the witnesses were intoxicated," Williams said. He said the effect of time and alcohol on a person's memory produced a "number of inconsistencies in the witnesses." The defendant was represented by Jennifer Nash, who argued that the two had taken part in consensual sex.

After 5 hours of deliberation, jury finds Sweet Home man not guilty in choking incident. A jury on Friday found a Sweet Home man not guilty of charges stemming from a choking incident with an Adair Village infant more than a year ago. After five hours of deliberation, a Benton County jury found the defendant, 20, not guilty on all counts. The defendant, dressed in a light-blue button-down shirt and khakis, wiped at his eyes with his shirt-sleeves as the jury left the courtroom. The defendant was charged with multiple counts of assault and criminal mistreatment. One count of tampering with physical evidence was dismissed before the trial began. Although the defendant wasn't the biological father, his attorney, Nicolas Ortiz, stressed in closing arguments that he had assumed the role of a parent with the child. The defendant was alone with the baby and called 911 to report that the child was choking on a napkin. Ortiz described the defendant as being "frantic" after the napkin was in the baby's throat and said repeated swipes with a finger might have caused some injury, though likely not the tear in the baby's esophagus. "[The defendant] was acting like someone who was responsible for an injury, that much he was aware of, and hoping [the baby] was all right," Ortiz told the jury. The actual tear, he suggested, may have come from medical personnel, who placed suction and breathing tubes down the baby's throat when treating his injuries.

A former community college instructor has been acquitted of sex abuse charges involving four young children. The defendant had faced 13 counts of sex abuse against three girls and a boy, all siblings who knew him. But Benton County Circuit Judge Locke Williams acquitted Montgomery on Friday after five days of trial and the testimony of dozens of witnesses.

The West Albany High School student who was arrested last May after police found homemade bombs under his floorboards was sentenced in juvenile court Monday to 10 years in the custody of the Oregon Youth Authority as part of a plea agreement. [The youth], 17, admitted to six counts of manufacturing a destructive device and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon in juvenile court. The plea agreement dropped the adult charges that [the youth] faced, including a count of aggravated attempted murder. The charges for manufacturing a destructive device carry a five-year committment to an Oregon Youth correctional facility to be spent consecutively with an additional five-year committment for unlawful use of a weapon. However, it will be up to the Oregon Youth Authority as to how much time [the youth] actually spends housed in a facility before he is released. Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson said the agreement took into account [the youth’s]’s immaturity and the results of his psychological evaluations. He added that the principals of Albany’s high schools supported the agreement, which will involve [the youth] receiving treatment through the juvenile system. Benton County Circuit Court Judge Locke Williams commended the prosecution and defense on reaching the plea agreement and Williams said the juvenile system is the best place for [the youth] to get treatment. “I feel this is the best resolution for this case,” he said. “We can all be grateful [the youth] is getting the help he needs."