Credit where it's due to WW reporter James Pitkin for this scoop: Beanbag girl was re-arrested last night after setting her bedroom on fire while watching TV footage of her sentencing yesterday afternoon.

You go, beanbag girl! Or at least, I understand why she did it. Listening to the trial proceedings yesterday I was struck repeatedly by how little chance this girl has of succeeding in life. Her mother was sentenced for delivery of cocaine in 2007, she was raped at the age of 7. At the end of the trial I was thinking, frankly, thank God I was born white and affluent. I've been spared a lot of bad luck in my life, I'm unlikely to be profiled by police, and there are a few socially acceptable outlets for my anger. What does this girl's future hold?

I also want to stress that I found the judge's decision to try the case herself, instead of proceed with a jury trial, abhorrent. We, as a community, were charging this girl with adult crimes—felonies that will stay on her record—and yet she's not entitled to a jury trial? While the judge wasn't swayed by any of the defense's arguments about the cops lying in their reports, breaking escalation procedures and essentially causing the outcome that they did, I feel certain that a jury would have been. It's not the judge's place to make rulings like this—it's a jury's. And if the judge was thinking that by finding the girl guilty, she could use the justice system to keep a closer eye on her, well, that's not true. From the girl's perspective, or at least from mine, the judge was just out to protect the rogue officers from justice.

It's enough to make me want to set something on fire, too.

A Federal Court Judge has this afternoon ruled against the city, which had asked for the case related to the 2006 death in custody of James Chasse to be tried outside Portland. The city had cited media articles about the case as evidence that a fair jury could not be found in Portland, and today was the date set for oral argument.

• CHASSE: DIED IN SEPTEMBER 2006

"It’s publicity the city has brought on by itself by the way it runs the police department, and that is just a fact of life," responded Tom Steenson, an attorney for the Chasse family. "But they have not carried the burden. The mere fact that there is publicity out there does not mean there will not be a fair trial."

"The, in my view, the pre-trial publicity is overwhelmingly hostile to the defendants in this case," said Judge Garr King, making his ruling. "There is sufficient inflammatory information out there to raise questions that prejudice exists."

But the city had not met its burden of proof to show that an impartial jury couldn't be found, said the judge. "Portland includes over 1,800,000 residents spread over 11 counties. I do not believe that conclusive presumption of prejudice can be made at this time," he said. "It’s my experience that jurors take their oath seriously, and if there is any question about a juror’s prejudice it can be inspected and challenged."

King says he intends to make use of a week-long jury selection process, during which a questionnaire will be used to determine whether jurors might be prejudiced as part of an extensive "voir dire" process, which is standard before all trials.

Judge King also pointed out that he had personally asked the 120 potential jurors in the case of Vasily Kobel vs City of Portland—which took place last December, and was won by the city—whether they knew about the Chasse case. "The jurors were surprisingly unfamiliar with the Chasse case when we picked a jury in that case," said King. "I’m hopeful that we can select an impartial jury."

King said his ruling could change "if there are inflammatory media articles, speeches, releases that I feel tip the scales," between now and the trial. "I just hope nothing occurs between now and the trial that would cause us to go off in a different direction," he said.

Chasse’s father, James Chasse senior, who bears a striking facial resemblance to his dead son, was once again present in the courtroom this afternoon in a somber dark gray suit with a hand-tied red bow tie. He sat patiently in the back of the room listening to proceedings through headphones for the hearing-impaired.

God bless the City of Portland. Attorneys are blaming the continuing media coverage of the death of James Chasse for so biasing its field of potential jurors that the case needs to be moved out of state. The move would be amusing were it not part of the city's continued refusal to acknowledge responsibility for its part in Chasse's death, says the Reverend Chuck Currie, this afternoon. "This is a question of a justice and so far the city of Portland has come down time and time again on the wrong side," writes Currie, in an email to supporters and friends. Here's the opener of the city's 16-page memo to the judge:

• BLAMING THE PRESS

Deeply regrettable, all this.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office this morning agreed not to prosecute a Gresham woman if she, in turn, agreed not to sue a Gresham police officer involved in her controversial arrest on the MAX back in August.

Angela DeCorte signed an agreement prepared by attorneys from the City of Portland this morning to “hold harmless” the Gresham officer—essentially, agreeing not to pursue legal action. In exchange, the District Attorney’s office agreed to drop charges of resisting arrest, theft of services, and interfering with a peace officer against DeCorte. Officers from Portland and Milwaukie were also involved in the incident on the platform.

DeCorte took her partner’s daughter to the Wailers concert at the zoo on August 5th—they rode the MAX into Portland from Gresham. On their way home, says DeCorte, the train stopped at SE102nd Ave, where a man was screaming in pain on the platform about being Tasered by police officers.

• DeCORTE: AGREED NOT TO SUE THIS MORNING

“My daughter was asking why are they doing that?” says DeCorte. “She was asking if that was okay. So I repeated my daughter’s questions to the officers, asking if they realized there were children watching this.”

DeCorte says officers told her and other concerned onlookers: “You all need to mind your own business and get back on the train.”

DeCorte continued asking questions about the welfare of the man being Tasered, she says, when an officer approached asking for her fare. She showed the officer her purse, which had the ticket inside, and turned around to sit down on the MAX.

“Before I could sit down, I was grabbed on both sides and had my head ground down to the pavement,” she says. “My daughter is nine years old, and they’re yelling at me to get off the MAX.”

DeCorte says Gresham Sergeant Michael Amend told her “you’re fucked, you should have minded your own business, you’re going to jail.”

Once DeCorte’s daughter was off the MAX, she says, Amend told her “you’re a terrible parent, you shouldn’t have been allowed to have children, I’m going to call child services and get her taken away from you.”

DeCorte cried and begged to be allowed to take her daughter home, she says, but she was taken to jail instead, and not released until 6 o’clock the next morning.

DeCorte says she would rather focus on her family and on positive things than let the court case and proceedings drag out.

“I feel like, as a taxpayer, I paid for them to brutalize me, then I paid them overtime to show up in court, do I really want to keep paying them to drag this out?” she says.

"Profanity is not tolerated by our officers, and it would be investigated if a complaint was made," says Sergeant Rick Wilson, public information officer for the Gresham Police Department. "As for the agreement with the district attorney's office, you would have to talk with them about that."

DeCorte says she does now plan to file a complaint about her treatment.

A homeless man is trying to persuade the county’s animal services shelter to reverse the adoption of his 7-month old Chihuahua after it was given to a foster family while he was in jail.

“I was arrested in the grocery store for eating out of the salad bar,” says Lonnie Mead—picked up by the cops on November 20th in the Safeway at the corner of SW 10th and Jefferson.

“I take psychiatric medication, anti-depressants, and they’re pretty strong. I bought a pint of vodka, and I only drank about an inch of it—but I blacked out. I don’t remember even being in the store.”

Mead spat at a police officer when he was arrested, and pled guilty this morning to harassment and criminal trespass, having been previously excluded from Safeway. The judge sentenced him to 25 days in jail, with compensation for time served, and fined him $300. The fine will be difficult to pay, but for Mead, the biggest concern now is getting back his dog, Riff Raff.

“9 months ago I attempted suicide,” he says. “I just felt like there wasn’t much to live for. So I got a dog. I raised him since he was a puppy, he’s been a companion.”

The county’s animal services shelter called Mead at the jail shortly after his arrest, asking him to come get Riff Raff.

“But they didn’t give me much of a chance,” he says. “I didn’t have anyone who could go get him for me, and I was in jail until today.”

In the mean time, the county has given the dog to a foster family. And it's actually up for adoption on the county's website, right now:

• RIFF RAFF: NO! NO! DON'T ADOPT HIM!

Rouwton says he was aware that Riff Raff was gotten to help Mead with his depression. “But it’s not a service animal,” he says. “There isn’t documentation for that.”

“Do I want to place this dog with someone else? No I don’t,” Rouwton continues. “I’m hoping we can hear from Mr.Mead and we can get something going.”

Rouwton’s attorney, Brad Kalbaugh, has already called the shelter, twice.

“They’ve just told me he’s been given to a foster family,” says Kalbaugh.

Let’s hope something can be worked out.

A Federal Court Jury has ruled against Multnomah County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Hathaway this morning, finding him liable for excessive force and battery related to an altercation with an inmate in the booking area of the county jail in 2006. You can catch up on the case by reading the post I wrote last night.

Nevertheless, the jury only awarded damages of $500 to the plaintiff, Michael Evans. They also found in favor of another Sheriff's Deputy, Robert Griffith, and Portland Police Bureau Officer Ryan Albertson, finding them not liable for excessive force, or battery in the case. A jail sergeant was also cleared of alleged assault for shining a Taser into Evans' eyes.

Evans had been seeking punitive damages of $60,000 against Deputy Griffith, $120,000 against Deputy Hathaway, and $60,000 against Officer Albertson, so the jury's financial award was considerably lower than he had been seeking. Mr.Evans had written to a friend about the case, asking the question, "who wants to be a millionaire?" and had refused a larger offer of settlement in the case from the county, prior to trial.

Evans, who is serving time for two felony convictions dating back to last summer, was led out of the court in leg shackles after the verdict. It is understood he wants to appeal the rulings against him.

"We're pleased with the result," said Assistand County Attorney Carlos Calandriello, after the case had adjourned.

Evans' attorney, Benjamin Haile, declined comment, as did Deputy Hathaway.

"So, do I have to pay the $250?" Hathaway asked County Attorney Stephen Madkour, after the verdict.

"No, we can afford it," Madkour responded.

"My point is, for all this, and all that crap, I'll gladly pay $250," Hathaway told him. "I'm out of here. I'm gonna go home and have a drink."

Two jurors told the Mercury afterward that their verdict was not swayed by the high damages sought by Mr.Evans in the case. "We separated that out," said one—preferring not to be named.

"Our decision basically came down to one thing that we could all agree on," said another juror, who also preferred not to be named. "We all agreed that a blow to the head was excessive force."

An expert's report filed with the court prior to the trial made troubling allegations about jail deputies routinely punching inmates in the head as a control technique.

A Federal Court jury is still deliberating over allegations of excessive force in the booking area at Multnomah County Detention Center, stemming from 2006. Judge Anna Brown sent the jury out at 12:30 today, at the conclusion of four-and-a-half days of trial proceedings which began last Tuesday, December 8. And the jury is still out, as I post this.

• FIGHT IN BOOKING AREA: EVANS ON FLOOR

Evans looked very different in court than he did in the jail video. Dressed in a suit and tie, and having grown out his hair, he also seemed to have lost some of his bulk from his appearance in a black muscle shirt in the jail booking area. He asked for a tissue before taking the stand, saying he "still gets very emotional" when he thinks about the incident. He is currently in prison serving time for two felony convictions, and was led to the stand in leg shackles while the jury was outside. The jury was instructed to weigh Evans' felony convictions in considering the value of his testimony.

Officer Albertson, too, had grown out his skinhead for court. He and Deputy Hathaway—who is an intimidating 6'7"—appeared to be nervously awaiting the verdict of the case on the steps of the Downtown Justice Center as this reporter left court this afternoon.

• EVANS: BOOKING PHOTO. NO CAMERAS ARE ALLOWED IN FEDERAL COURT.

"And that's what's really disturbing about this case," said Haile. "They thought that they could blame Mr.Evans." "There are many places in that jail that are not in view of a camera," he continued. "Because of that imbalance of power, that's a way that the officers have abused the oath that they took."

Haile said most law enforcement officers are honest. "But when law enforcement officers start to show contempt for the truth like this, it cuts the law loose from its anchor," he said. "I'm asking you to support that 95 percent of law enforcement officers who do serve justly, and send a message to them that revenge beatings and dishonesty do not have to be a part of this. Otherwise good officers are going to leave."

"Law enforcement officers use force all the time," he said. "The question is reasonableness."

Haile said Evans was completely immobilized on the floor but that the sheriff's deputies continued to punch him once he was down. Officer Albertson had time to assess the situation, see that Evans was immobilized, and still deliver a knee strike to the back, said Haile.

County Attorney Stephen Madkour said sheriff's deputies' jobs are "dangerous, demanding, and under-appreciated," but that they do their job "with pride and distinction." "Now we're hearing that they're also liars," he said. "He comes into our jail in his black muscle shirt with his barbel nipple rings telling us how it's going to be," he continued.

Madkour focused on Evans' description in deposition of his behavior as being "Gandhi like," in the booking area. Madkour said Evans' refusal to have his prints taken on a property receipt was resistant behavior. Madkour also drew attention to testimony by an expert witness, Howard Webb, that said Evans should have been Tasered, not beaten, to reduce harm—"his own expert says he actively resisted," Madkour said.

Madkour quoted a letter from Evans to a friend in which he wrote, "I refused to comply with anything they asked." He said "there is no doubt that force was used. The question is whether it was objectively reasonable under the circumstances."

City Attorney David Landrum asked the jury if they had noticed the irony in Haile describing the law enforcement officers as liars, but not Evans. Throughout his closing remarks, he projected a letter from Evans onto the jurors' monitor screens, in which Evans said he was thinking of suing, and asked a friend of his, "who wants to be a millionaire?"

Haile described Madkour and Landrum's closing remarks as "distraction from the amount of force that was used." "You've heard that police officers just do the right thing, that this had to happen," he continued. "But they're saying that they should be able to do this whenever they want to."

"There was not much effort to explain the contradictions between the reports and what we see on the videos," Haile continued. "Officer Albertson said in his report that he was trying to control Mr.Evans' arm when he kneed him, but he doesn't even touch his arm on the video. There are serious inconsistencies. The force is very disturbing in this case."

We'll let you know as soon as the jurors reach a verdict.

The federal trial related to the 2006 death in police custody of James Chasse has been rescheduled to June 2010, according to the court docket this afternoon. The case was scheduled for a 13-day jury trial starting on March 16, but has now been moved to a longer 16-day trial, starting on June 1.

The timing change is significant, because next year's primary election for Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman's seat is due in May. Should any of the four candidates filing for public financing manage to force a runoff, then that would happen in November—so the two elections will now sandwich the rescheduled trial.

Depending on the outcome, the rescheduling could impact the election in different ways. If the city were to be cleared of liability for Chasse's death, then it's arguable that a trial before the primary would help Saltzman's chances. Having the outcome of the trial in doubt during the primary could give his opponents leverage.

I'm not going to lie, I missed this yesterday. In fact, I wrote the date down wrong, but it's big news, and so it's time to play catch up. There was a hearing in federal court yesterday to decide whether to unseal certain documents in the Chasse case. The Oregonian and Willamette Week were both there, and I'm going to link you to James Pitkin's coverage because it caught the most interesting angle in proceedings—that the judge not only ruled against releasing more documents, but also, said he's considering trying the Chasse case outside Portland, because it's impossible to find a juror in Multnomah County who hasn't had their mind poisoned by all the media outrage surrounding the case.

As if to bear the judge's opinion out, this video just surfaced online. Full disclosure, I'm working on a documentary about Chasse's death, but it seems some people can't wait for the damned thing to come out, and have begun trying to make documentaries of their own. This one, posted by Bob Seaver, features maudlin piano, and even poetry, to make its point. In particular, it focuses on statements being made recently by the Portland Police Association boss, Scott Westerman, in defense of the officers involved in the death:

Seaver recently discovered iMovie, it seems, having just posted another Youtube focusing on Mark Kruger, a cop with an interest in "military history."

City Commissioners Randy Leonard, Nick Fish and Amanda Fritz called this afternoon for the publication of the city's controversial "secret list," going against the advice they have been given so far by the city attorney's office to keep it secret.

City council passed an "emergency ordinance" this afternoon to pay Multnomah County almost $1million of taxpayer dollars to administer part of the program. But the discussion took an unexpected turn after council faced questions from public defense attorney Chris O'Connor about keeping the list secret.

"Commissioner Saltzman and I have one small disagreement, which is publish this list," said Leonard. "Other than that this is a remarkable program."

"I want to add my voice to the chorus arguing for publishing the list," said Fish. "We get good legal advice, but ultimately we are the clients."

Fritz said she agreed with the remarks made by Fish and Leonard. She wanted to see how many women were getting into the program, too. After the session, Fritz clarified her remarks: "It's public record, how many times someone has been arrested," she said. "So why would we want to keep it secret? Since people could go to the trouble to get hold of this information themselves, I think the fact that it has been kept secret has become a distraction." "There might be a public benefit in publishing this list," she told a KBOO reporter.

You can catch up on what the list is by watching this 10-minute documentary, but in brief: It targets around 450 drug addicts in Old Town for felony treatment on what would otherwise be treated as misdemeanor drug offenses. The list is assembled by taking the number of arrests of Old Town offenders, and those who have been arrested the most over a 30 day period get on the list. At present, there is no way to find out if you are on the list, and no way to challenge your status on the list. The list has already faced its first constitutional challenge in court, when a judge overturned the felony treatment of two defendants under it. Broader constitutional challenges are expected soon, but in the mean time, the city has continued to decline to share the list with the public.

It's not clear at this point what is going to happen next. Commissioner Leonard would not go so far as to tell the Mercury that he is going to file a city ordinance to publish the list, despite now being in a majority on council, calling for its release to the public.

"I will defer to Dan's judgement," said Leonard. "But if I was the police commissioner and I heard what I heard today, I would come back to my office and order the police chief to publish the list on the web."

"I don't mind stepping on toes," said Leonard, "and I have before, and I will again, but I want to give Dan the benefit of the doubt. He's operating with the team day to day, and is getting some information that I am not getting. But based on what I heard today, I would be very surprised if he didn't go back and say that."

"Then the debate is about whether certain people should be forced into treatment," said Leonard. "And I will have that discussion all day."

Commissioner Saltzman was unavailable for comment immediately after the hearing, but staff said they would be discussing the outcome of today's council session with the commissioner over coming days. More after the jump.

Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Bushong unexpectedly annihilated the city's sit/lie law at a special session this afternoon, after the city asked him to "clarify" his late June ruling that the law is unconstitutional.

City Commissioner Nick Fish was there to watch the verdict, along with representatives from the Portland Business Alliance—which has pushed for the sit/lie law all along—and plenty of interested local media. Fish, himself a former civil rights attorney, spent a few moments afterward, chatting not with the city attorney's staff, but with the defense attorney in the case, Clayton Lance:

Hit the jump.

Lee Perlman, the man accused of defacing a Recall Sam Adams petition, was arrested today on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief in the third degree.

Volunteers Gaye Harris and Joe Favata were getting signatures in the parking lot of the Albina Community Bank in northeast Portland on August 6 when Perlman approached them and asked to sign. He then scribbled across the petition, which already had eight valid signatures, and returned it to the volunteers, saying “here’s my signature,” according to Jasun Wurster, head of campaign to recall the mayor.

The volunteers got a picture of his license plate as he drove away and then called the police, says Wurster.

• Perlman in custody

“We’re deeply disturbed that he thought he could silence eight citizens,” Wurster told the Mercury. “We’re going to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. Our attorneys are in contact with the DA’s office and the Secretary of State elections division to see if any [more serious] crimes have been perpetrated by Mr. Perlman.”

Perlman is a writer for the Hollywood Star News and other local publications. When contacted Monday for his comment regarding the incident, he said, “I think it best I don’t talk about it.”

Perlman is still in custody on $1,000 bail. The jail only allows visitors on the weekends.

Update, 3:49pm

District Attorney Mike Schrunk says he is yet to reach a charging decision in the case.

"We'll figure it out and file the appropriate charge, if there is one," he says. "And if we don't, then we'll come up with a written reason why we haven't charged him."

Schrunk said as far as he knew, there was no conferring between the DA's office and the cops before arresting Perlman. Police spokeswoman Mary Wheat concurred. "We don't make decisions based on politics," she says.

City Auditor Andrew Carlstrom says the eight signatures defaced by Perlman are still valid, because everything is still legible on the petition.

"I'd much rather be thinking about some of the other crimes that happen in this town," says Schrunk. "It's not like it's armed robbery, but it seems to be interfering with the process and there should be a consequence for doing that."

Asked whether he would be pursuing the death penalty in this case, Schrunk declined comment.

-Rachael Marcus