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| June 18, 2009 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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Jury finds man guilty of crimes against neighbors
He's acquitted
of hate crime
By MARY DUNCAN
A Mason County Supe-
rior Court jury returned a
mixed verdict last month
against a man from the
Skokomish Reservation in-
volved in a fracas last year
with his neighbors.
The jury convicted Dar-
rell Allen Watters, 39, of
120 North Valley Road of
felony harassment and
violation of a court order
but not guilty of malicious
harassment, Which is us-
ing language based on the
person's perception of race,
color or national origin. He
is scheduled for sentencing
on June 22.
The incident on March
9, 2008 involved Roslynne
Reed and her husband,
David, who resided at 100
North Valley Drive in a
house behind Watters'
residence. The Reeds have
lived on their property for
11 years and Watters has
owned his property since
1988. The neighbors have
been in a decade-long dis-
pute.
There is a Mason County
District Court civil anti-ha-
rassment order issued June
8, 1998 involving Reed and
Watters. He was convicted
in 1998 of fourth-degree
assault against Roslynne
Reed. It was valid through
June 9, 2009.
Pat O'Neill, who resides
across the street from Wat-
ters, and Fred Keith, an-
other neighbor, testified
about a commotion that
began around 9 a.m. on
March 9, 2008, after Wat-
ters had been given some
paperwork by Skokomish
police.
They described Watters
as "ranting and raving" off
and on most of the morning
and into the afternoon. The
men said they heard Wat-
ters use racial slurs. Keith
said he called the Mason
County Sheriffs Office.
Ms. Reed, who described
herself as Native Ameri-
can and African American,
testified that she was told
about the commotion by
Peggy O'Neill, who phoned
her in the morning.
She said Watters was
"directing his anger at me
again," using the "N" word,
derogatory terms and ob-
scenities. She heard some
of the comments while
she and her husband were
walking over to the O'Neills
in the early afternoon.
During the course of the
day he went inside his resi-
dence and then came back
out, she said. "It's difficult
to tell what he is saying
(when he was inside). I was
afraid because I knew he
was getting worse. I stayed
inside most of the time."
She called his behavior "ir-
rational."
Breaks in his ranting
only occurred when the po-
lice got there, she said. Be-
sides the shouting directed
at her, she said, "The other
yelling seemed to be di-
rected at the paperwork he
received. We had a court
date for an exclusion re-
view in tribal court." If an
exclusion, which applies to
non-tribal members who
own property, is granted, a
person may remain on the
reservation and may use
the public roads on the res-
ervation but is prohibited
from going anywhere else.
As they were walking by
in the afternoon, Ms. Reed
said, Watters used racial
slurs and arm movements.
"He had used the word
'kill,' which I had not heard
before," she added.
Detective Jeff Rhoades of
the Mason County Sheriffs
Office investigated the inci-
dent when he was a patrol
deputy. He was responding
to a complaint from Keith.
He said he could hear a
commotion coming from in-
side Watters' house.
"He was moving around.
It became apparent he was
talking to himself," he said,
describing Watters as "ir-
rational, out of sorts and
upset."
He said Watters refused
to open the door and so he
and other officers made a
forced entry and arrested
Watters.
Watters testified in his
own defense. He said his
property is landlocked by
the Reeds' property. He
said, on March 9 "I was
awakened first thing that
morning. I heard my name.
They said, 'Today is the
last day. We're laying down
the tracks.' About an hour
or two after that Officer
Brown from the tribe gave
me an envelope with an ex-
clusion."
He said the Reeds were
"excluding me off my prop-
erty or from going to Twin
Totems or visiting my
friends out on the reserva-
tion. I went into a state of
panic."
He said the Reeds also
wanted the restraining or-
der from June of 1998 re-
newed. "It all came in one
packet."
Watters continued, "I re-
alized they were all across
the street and they were
behind pushir/g this (exclu-
sion) ordinance."
He said he "probably
did" call Ms. Reed by a ra-
cial slur. But when asked if
he threatened to kill her or
her husband, he responded,
"Absolutely not."
He did admit being
served with the exclusion
papers made him angry.
However, he said, "I pay no
attention to these people at
all because there's an ha-
rassment order." He said
his comments were not di-
rected toward Reed. "I was
directing it towards the pa-
perwork. I was reading it
on the trunk of my car."
Referring to the district
court order he said, "It's
been 10 years and I never
spoke with them and I
wanted to get my hunting
license renewed." The order
prohibits him from having
firearms.
He admitted he never
has gotten along with the
Reeds. He said he saw the
Reeds were. standing on
O'Neill's porch, "watch-
ing as I was handed those
papers. They pretty much
stayed there because they
could see me from there."
He said the Skokomish
officer came back around
11 or 11:30 a.m. but didn't
arrest him. "I promised
him I would keep it down
and I would stay on my own
property."
Then about 5:30 p.m., "I
remember Rhoades look-
ing through the kitchen
window," Watters said. "I
called my dad's girlfriend
and I asked her to call state
(patrol). I trusted the state
patrol much more than the
county, and the tribal po-
lice were the worse ones."
He said that was the reason
he did not open the door for
the deputy.
Gun-toting man accused of detaining paramedics
Wrong turn leads
to incident on
Harstine Island
By MARY DUNCAN
A man accused of hold-
ing two paramedics in an
ambulance at gunpoint was
arraigned on June 11 in Ma-
son County Superior Court.
Keith Chynoweth, 50, of
101 East McMicken Road,
entered not-guilty pleas to
charges of unlawful impris-
onment and aiming a fire-
arm at a human being. He
is scheduled for trial during
the jury term beginning Au-
gust 18.
The incident was report-
ed on April 2 after Mason
County Fire District 5 medic
units were dispatched to an
aid call at 11 East Andrej's
Road on the island. Para-
medics Travis Larrabee and
Darren Porter were called
from off-duty to respond,
according to the probable-
cause statement. They were
in a fully marked, white
box-style ambulance with
overhead lights and the FD
5 logo and ambulance mark-
ings.
The medics turned onto
McMicken Road and Lar-
rabee, using a navigation-
al device, advised Porter
that Andrej's Road was the
first road to the left off Mc-
Micken. Porter turned left
down a dirt road less than
100 yards down McMicken
Road.
As they traveled down
the road both of them re-
ported hearing what they
recognized as a gunshot,
very loud and near the am-
bulance. They decided they
took a wrong turn and were
not on Andrej's Road so they
turned around to leave.
Porter activated all the
ambulance's scene lights,
which are white lights on
both sides and the rear
used to illuminate the area
around an aid scene. Porter
observed a man walking to-
ward the vehicle carrying a
shotgun. As he approached,
both medics reported that
the man, later identified as
Chynoweth, pointing the
shotgun at them in what
they described as a threat-
ening manner.
Chynoweth allegedly
kept the shotgun pointed
at them while cursing them
and demanding to know
who they were and what
they were doing. They said
they told him they were
medics responding to an aid
call and needed to leave.
He told them there was
no aid call on this road and
they were not leaving. He
then demanded identifica-
tion from them. Chynoweth
examined the IDs, returned
them to the medics and told
them to leave immediately
and not come back unless
they brought the police and
a search warrant.
As the man turned to
walk away, the medics
reported seeing a pistol
tucked into the waistband
of his pants.
An investigation by de-
tectives with the Mason
County Sheriffs Office
led to the identification of
Chynoweth as the person
who held the medics at gun-
point. Both Porter and Lar-
rabee identified him from a
photomontage.
A search warrant was
served on Chynoweth on
May 14. He was arrested
four days later. Chynoweth
provided a statement in
which he admitted firing
a pistol into the ground
the night of the incident
to get the attention of the
people in the box van since
they were trespassing on is
property. He also reported-
ly admitted having a shot-
gun when he approached
the vehicle and demanded
identification. He said he
did tell them to leave and
not come back unless they
had a search warrant and
police. A 12-gauge shot-
gun and three pistols were
found at his residence.
Teenage sex offender gets chance at treatment instead of prison
By MARY DUNCAN
A 19-year-old Shelton
man who admitted inap-
propriately touching a
5-year-old girl will have
the opportunity for sexual
deviancy treatment in lieu
of prison.
Jared Anthony Cochran,
of 2414 Washington Street,
was sentenced on Tuesday
in Mason County Superior
Court under the Special
Sex Offender Sentencing
Alternative, also known as
SSOSA.
Judge Toni Sheldon im-
posed 59.5 months for child
molestation in the first de-
gree. She suspended all but
30 days on the condition he
successfully participates in
and completes a sexual de-
viancy treatment program.
Cochran pled guilty on
June 12. In his plea state-
ment he said on September
14, 2008 he had sexual con-
tact with a person whose
birth date is October 17,
2003.
Judge Sheldon asked
him what he did. "I touched
her butt while masturbat-
ing," he responded.
At the sentencing hear-
ing, Ron Sergi, defense
counsel, argued for the spe-
cial sentence. He said Co-
chran meets all the criteria
for a SSOSA. Cochran ad-
mitted his guilt, has no pri-
or felony convictions and
no prior sex offense convic-
tions, inflicted no substan-
tial bodily harm, had an es-
tablished relationship with
the victim and the sentenc-
ing range is less than 11
years. The standard sen-
tencing range is from 51 to
68 months.
Sergi said treatment
would be challenging but
appropriate given Co-
chran's disabilities.
'~ou cannot touch any-
one's bottom. It's wrong
to have touched the little
girl's bottom," Judge Shel-
don told Cochran.
She agreed with Sergi
that Cochran fit the eligi-
bility requirements for a
SSOSA. "He is a borderline
candidate to succeed be-
cause he has mental retar-
dation and other issues,"
she commented. "You need
to ask questions if you don't
understand."
She reminded Cochran
that if he fails to succeed in
the treatment program, he
will go to prison for almost
five years. He will be sub-
ject to periodic reviews by
the court of his progress in
treatment.
The judge told Cochran
he would be required to
register as a sex offender
for life and ordered him to
have no contact with the
victim for life. She said he
would be on conditions of
supervision for life.
Judge Sheldon provided
an exception to one of the
conditions of supervision
that prohibits contact with
minor children. She said
Cochran would be allowed
to participate in Special
Olympics. She ordered him
to pay $2,314.50 in legal
financial obligations with
restitution, including any
counseling for the victim,
to be determined at a fu-
ture hearing.
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Thursday, June 18, 2009 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page C-7