Caught

I was called Wednesday afternoon by the Bend PD and told that the two suspects in the burglary have been taken into custody. I have since been informed that one of the suspects has been released pending a court date. Since no one can tell me the reasons behind this release, I can only assume that their reasoning is that our state feels that burglary is not a violent crime and we need to keep room in our jails for those more violent criminals. What I hear of this person, however, is that he has a very strong personality and prone to violent acts.

It will be interesting to see just how the DA's Office handles this one. My faith has been shaken there by previous encounters. I can only hope that this one ends well.

Back in 2005, our offices were burglarized and our safe was stolen. After they were arrested and released, I was called by Mike Dugan who said that he would personally handle the case. He called me again before the case was brought up and informed me that one of the men involved but was not actually in the burglary had agreed to a plea bargain for theft instead of burglary. He asked how I felt and I agreed. The court date was set and I was prepared to go down and watch. But someone in the court system put the date up by a month and I was not called and informed of the change. So...to my surprise, I received a letter from the DA's office informing me that both of the defendants had been charged with theft. The DA's assistant assigned to the case read the notes wrong and the other defendant was given the same deal. This would not have happened had I been informed of the case and allowed my day in court. The third defendant's court date came and I went down to the courtroom. I was already informed that the court would have to give her the same sentence as the others. Their reasoning was that they had to be fair. I am not sure where the fairness there was regarding me, however. I was able to challenge the court that day and the judge did issue me an apology but that did not change the outcome.

Last year, my wife's car was sideswiped. I was just turning into the street and witnessed the car just after it hit. As a matter of fact, I thought it was going to hit me. The person lived just a couple of houses up from me and had fresh white paint the very same distance from the ground as the marks on Judy's car. The woman's explanation's were very erratic and she was caught in more than one lie. The police felt that they had a case and the DA's assistant agreed so she was arrested.

Just before the court date, I was called by a new assistant. The original had left the department and this one did not feel that they had a case. The reason was that I had not actually seen her hit Judy's car. I was told that it would be a waste of tax payers money to take this case to the court and the case was dropped.

I will live with whatever outcome happens but I do hope that this one turns out better than the previous ones.