District Attorney

The Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office announces its policy for handling marijuana cases within the county after the passage of Measure 91. Although Measure 91 was passed by the voters of Oregon on November 4, 2014, it will not take legal effect until July 1, 2015. Therefore, the criminal justice system is forced to consider how it will handle marijuana cases during this interim period. This announcement explains the approach of the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office.

For more than seven hours a Clackamas County Grand Jury listened to the testimony of 10 witnesses and reviewed the facts of the January 28, 2016 shooting death of Christopher Kalonji. After considering all the evidence, the Grand Jury has concluded that the deputy sheriffs were justified in using deadly force in defense of another person.

Today, Monday, August 15, 2016, the case of State vs. Gerald Miller was presented to the sitting Clackamas County Grand Jury. This grand jury, like all Oregon grand juries, was a group of seven residents of the county selected at random by the Presiding Judge of Clackamas County. This grand jury reviews the evidence in every felony case filed in the county during their month long term. The case of State vs. Gerald Miller was just one of these cases.

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