Prosecutions keep Jo county deputy district attorneys hopping
From our weekly issue dated March 04, 2009
Tuesday, Feb. 25
7:45 a.m.
Josephine County Deputy District Attorney Wally Hicks has been in his office for around 15 minutes. His first Measure 11 trial is scheduled for later in the morning, but he’s nervous because he hasn’t heard back from his witnesses.
Measure 11 was passed by Oregon voters in 1994, and established mandatory minimum sentences for several violent crimes, including murder, manslaughter, assault, kidnapping, rape, sodomy, sexual abuse and robbery.
At this point, Hicks has put more than 30 hours into the case, many of those during the weekend. In fact, he was at the office until 10 p.m. the previous Sunday preparing for the case. It stems from a July 2006 incident at Bolan Lake some 28 miles southeast of Illinois Valley off Happy Camp Road, and resulted in the defendant facing charges of second-degree assault and first-degree robbery.
Hicks, 32, is concerned that all the delays in the case may have discouraged the witnesses.
“It’s frustrating if there ends up being another set-over,” he said. “People lose faith that it’s going to happen.”
Hicks was born in Eugene; grew up in The Dalles and attended high school in Maryland. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at 17 and served for seven years. During his military stint, Hicks achieved the rank of captain and was stationed in Iraq during 2004.
He attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and majored in history, graduating in 2000. After that, Hicks went to law school at the University of Oregon in Eugene. He finished his classes in December 2007 and took the bar exam the following February.
In June 2008, Hicks began working at the Josephine County D.A.’s office, where his primary function is juvenile delinquency prosecutor. He anticipates handling up to 1,100 juvenile and 200 adult cases his year.
8 a.m.
It’s time for the department’s morning meeting. Dockets are published at around 4 o’clock every afternoon, but aside from trials, case assignments for the morning are unknown. The department’s duties are broad, and include intake, grand jury proceedings, sentencing hearings and arraignments.
Seven deputy D.A.’s are in the room with D.A. Stephen Campbell. He’s been busy prosecuting the high-profile Leonard Sandoval murder case, which subsequently resulted in a conviction.
Deputies begin volunteering for the various assignments when a secretary comes in to advise Hicks that his witnesses have arrived. He excuses himself and leaves to talk to them.
When the meeting ends, deputy D.A. Ryan Mulkins grabs his coffee off the table and heads to his office. Mulkins, 30, was born in Coos Bay and grew up in Southwest Portland. He attended Portland State University for his undergraduate studies and majored in business and finance. In 2005, Mulkins got his law degree from Willamette University in Salem.
His first job out of college was insurance defense work in Portland; then he did business litigation for a sole practitioner in Salem. He joined the D.A.’s office in February 2007 and has been handling the sex abuse and child abuse casework since October 2008.
On this particular morning, Mulkins is conducting intake. That process begins after a crime occurs, and the law enforcement officer writes a report and refers the incident to the D.A.’s office. A deputy reads the report, determines the crimes to be charged and figures out the case logistics.
In this instance, a 17-year-old sex offender arrested the previous day was in custody. Mulkins has a limited window of time in which to either charge the suspect, which would lead to an arraignment, or have him released. Mulkins takes a sip of his coffee as he reads the police report. On the other side of the wall just behind him, Hicks can be heard reviewing testimony with his witnesses.
The case being reviewed by Mulkins involves many Measure 11 offenses. The suspect is a juvenile, but will turn 18 in September. Aside from that, juveniles can be charged as adults for Measure 11 crimes.
Mulkins goes to consult with Chief Deputy D.A. Lisa Turner — the second-highest ranking official in the department — regarding whether or not to try the suspect as an adult. Turner gives him the green light, at which point Mulkins returns to his office to phone the arresting officer to verify some facts.
9 a.m.
Court is about to begin, and Mulkins makes his way to Courtroom 4, where Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hull will preside. Hicks is meeting with Hull in the judge’s chambers as Mulkins and his witnesses wait in the hallway. Mulkins enters the courtroom, and is told that his pending case was granted a continuance, which he expected. He heads back to his office to prepare for future trials.
10 a.m.
While Mulkins does desk work, Hicks is in court involved in jury selection. The defendant sits nearby with his attorney, who asks potential jurors questions and begins framing the case as a fight between two adult men over a woman, and involving alcohol.
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11 a.m.
The jury has been selected: six men and six women. Hull instructs them, at which point Hicks launches his opening argument. On the night of July 15, 2006, Hicks tells the jury, the victim was celebrating his birthday during a camping trip when he was attacked by the defendant. The defendant kicked him in the head, and the victim was “seriously, seriously injured” as a result, Hicks said.
At the conclusion of the beating, Hicks relates that the defendant took $120 from the victim’s wallet.
The defense attorney’s opening argument soon follows. He states that the victim was “fixated” by the defendant’s girlfriend and made several suggestive comments toward her. According to the attorney, the victim hit the defendant on the head with a beer bottle, at which point a fight broke out. The attorney states that the defendant was defending his then-girlfriend, her children and himself. Hicks listens quietly, along with Hull, before calling his first witness.
11:15 a.m.
The prosecution’s first witness takes the stand, and testifies that the defendant screamed that he was “going to kill” the victim. She described the victim as being “covered in blood and pretty beat up” by the end of the encounter. After cross-examination by the defense attorney and a brief re-direct, the witness is excused, and Hicks calls his next one to the stand.
11:45 a.m.
The witness, a man, testifies that he tried to restrain the defendant during the accused assault, and that the victim appeared to have a difficult time breathing afterward. He also tells the jury that the defendant hit the victim’s truck, his own vehicle and a tree during the exchange. Just before noon, Hull calls a lunch break.
1:35 p.m.
Hull re-enters the courtroom, and the jury is brought back in. Hicks continues with his witness until cross-examination. The same process is repeated for the next witness.
2:30 p.m.
Hicks calls Josephine County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ed Vincent to testify. Vincent tells the jury that after the reported assault, he responded to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass, where the victim was recovering in the emergency room, with his pants covered in blood. A series of photos of the victim in that state are submitted into evidence by Hicks and passed to the jury.
3:20 p.m.
Hicks calls the victim to the stand, who admits flirting with the defendant’s girlfriend, but says that it was mutual. He also admits to drinking “at least” a 12-pack of beer on the day in question. At the time of the attack, the victim said, he was hit from behind and woke up in the dirt. He said he never took a swing at the defendant in retaliation, and that his skull was fractured as a result of the incident.
3:27 p.m.
Hicks enters into evidence the victim’s hospital records and bill. The victim testifies that two of his teeth were knocked out in the fracas, and that his injuries required him to miss two weeks of work.
3:53 p.m.
Hull has a separate case to consider at 4 p.m., so he orders all involved to return at 9:30 the following morning to continue the trial. Back in his office, Hicks engages with Mulkins in a friendly chat about current cases. Hicks appears confident about how the case has gone so far, but the verdict will simply have to wait for another day.
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