District Attorney

In 2015 the Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Justice initiated a criminal investigation into the work conduct of Oregon State criminalist Nika Larson. Criminalist Larsen worked exclusively in the crime labs in Pendleton and Bend, Oregon. However, on occasion Larson would receive evidence from other police agencies for analysis as well. The criminal investigation was in response to missing narcotics (0xycodone pills) in the Bend lab in 2015.

After a careful review of all the investigatory material from the Oregon State Police and all of the applicable statutes, the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office has determined that there is simply not enough evidence to initiate a criminal prosecution.

The Clackamas County District Attorney’s office received no advance notice of the proposal by the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association and the Oregon Association of Police Chiefs to reduce crimes involving drug possession including heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine to misdemeanors. There were no advance discussions about this concept, neither its purpose nor the possible consequences of such a policy.

• Unfortunately Oregon ACLU has apparently been transformed into a radical political action committee. It has started a political campaign to target elected District Attorneys during the upcoming election cycle. In a democracy it is completely appropriate for a political action committee, but not for a non-profit as ACLU claims to be.

Read the report here.

Read the concerns here.

Report Transmittal: Review of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office: Policies and Practice

Today, July 9, 2018, defendants Travis Mitchell and Sarah Mitchell plead guilty to charges of Criminal Negligent Homicide and Criminal Mistreatment for their actions in the death of their newborn child, Ginnifer Mitchell, and her newborn twin, Evelyn Mitchell, who survived. In addition, they have both agreed to serve sentences of 80 months in prison.

The Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office, working in conjunction with the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, Health, Housing and Human Services, and Central City Concern are scheduled to begin the new Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program (LEAD) in January 2019. LEAD is a pre-charging diversion program that seeks to reduce future criminal behavior by individuals involved in low level drug offenses in a targeted geographical area that has a higher population of the chronically homeless.