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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
August 23, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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August 23, 2012
 
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I By NATALIE JOHNSON testimony and argument by Ma- ~ata[ie@s~7~;~c,~co~t~ty.com.son County Prosecutor Mike Dor- ...................................................... cy and Churchill's lawyer, Brian Hershman. Judges ruled last week to al-Churchill's confession was low the use of confessions given played in its entirety during the by Stephan Churchill and Travis first day of the hearing on Aug. Baze in each of their murder tri- 10. als. In the confession, Churchill Churchill and Baze have each stated that he assaulted Mor- been charged with first-degree row because while he was in jail murder in the death of Shawn on a heroin charge, he believed Morrow. Morrow burglarized his home The Mason County Prosecu- and stole his TV. Both Morrow tor's Office has alleged.that on and Churchill were police infor- March 26, Baze and Churchill mants. lured Morrow to a public fishing During the first day of the area on State Route 3 near Bay- hearing, the court listened to shore, after Morrow expressedtestimony from Mason County an interest in buying heroin.Sheriffs Office detectives Jeff In the confession obtained byRhoades and Matt Ledford, who law enforcement the next day, on took Churchill's confession on March 27, Churchill confessed to March 27. hitting Morrow twice in the head Hershman argued that Led- with a metal baseball bat. ford and Rhoades, along with Morrow died of his injuries on other law enforcement person- March 30. nel, detained Churchill illegally Last Thursday, Judge Jea- while a U.S. Marshal-led team nette Dalton, visiting from performed a warrant sweep at Kitsap County, ruled that Churchill's home. Churchill's confession was ad- The sweep involved officers missible at trial after two days of from Mason and Kitsap counties, as well as Department of Correc- Dalton took issue with how attorney, Charles Lang, argued tions officers trying to execute Churchill was advised of his Mi- that his confession, also made on as many warrants as possible in randa rights in the taped confes- March 27, should be suppressed Mason and Kitsap counties, sion. The Miranda rights warnbecause his Miranda warnings The individuals named in the a person who is under arrest of were not complete. warrants were not at the prop- their rights to remain silent and During Baze's confession, erty, but Rhoades, who is the to request an attorney, which was not played in its officer in charge of the investiga- While detectives Rhoades and entirety, he asked detectives tion into what, at the time, was Ledford did advise Churchill Rhoades and Ledford several the assault on Morrow, came and of his Miranda rights; Daltontimes if they thought he needed began interviewing people at the said they did not clearly advise an attorney. home. Churchill that he had the right to They replied that they could During his private interviews, an attorney during questioning, not answer that, but that if he re- Ledford and other deputies su- However, because in the warn-quested an attorney, they would pervised other people present at ing Rhoads said, "You have the not be able to take a statement at the house, including Churchill right to exercise these rights that time. and Baze. at any time," Dalton ruled that Lane argued that Baze's ques- "What we've got here is a per- Churchill had received the full tions about whether he needed son who's detained," Hershman warning and that his statements an attorney constituted a request said. were admissible in court, for one. However, Judge Dalton ruled Dalton presided over the hear- Dorcy disagreed. that the deputies Were perform- ing because both Mason County"(The detectives) did every- ing their duty in providing sup- Superior Court Judges, Amber thing necessary and proper to port to Rhoades, and had not Finlay and Toni Sheldon, recused scrupulously protect his rights," acted improperly, themselves in the case. he said. "I do not find at that time that Judges can recuse themselves Mason County Superior Court the defendant was in custody," for avariety of reasons, including Judge Amber Finlay ruled in fa- she said. "This was simply man- if there is a perceived conflict of vor of the prosecution and stated agingthe population for purposes interest or questions about their that the confession would be ad- of protecting an officer who was impartiality, missible during a trial. otherwise investigating a serious Baze appeared in court last Baze and Churchill's trials assault." Friday for a similar hearing. His could begin as early as this week. ire along By NATALIE JOHNSON A brush fire along State Route 3 about 1 mile north of Anthony Road snarled traffic for several hours Friday afternoon. Mason County fire dis- tricts 2, 5 and 11 respond- ed. along with firefighting crews from the Washington State Department of Natu- ral Resources (DNR). with the DNR leading the effort to fight the fire. At its largest, the fire was m two areas: one was about 100-by-150 feet in length, and another was 50 square feet, said DNR pub- lic relations officer Janice Pacific. By 3 p.m.. about 45 min- utes after it started. DNR crews had the fire mostly contained after bringing in a helicopter to dump water on the blaze. Crews on the ground dug fire lines and used water hoses ~o damp- en ground around the fire so it wouldn't spread. The DNR also planned to bring in backhoes to deep- en fire lines, which slow the spread ofbrushfires. The dry, hot weather made conditions good fbr fire at the end of last week. Temperatures reached into the low 90s Friday. "We've had other fires popping up around the area." Pacific said. sna ll Journa~ pno~o D~ Natahe Jonnson A helicopter dumps water on a brush fire Fri- day afternoon along State Route 3 about 1 mile north of Anthony Road. As of Friday afternoon, planned to begin an inves- the DNR did not know tigation into the fire's ori- what caused the fire andgin. 1 360-426-7167 -800-675-7167 1 E. Brockdale Road 7985 Drive All Over for Your Dental Needs Shelton Dental Center is a full-service dental office providing all general dentistry services.plus: 4 • Oral Surgery • Implants • Root Canal Therapy • Periodontal Therapy • Pediatric Dentistry • Botox and Juvederm k!,"V Zl? "DENTAL CENTER Come see why everyone is smiling! (360) 426-8401 ° 360,GO,BRUSH (462-7874) www.SheltonDentalCentencom 1829 Jefferson Street ° Shelton WA, 98584 I J Crews respond to mobile home fire By ADAM RUDNICK Officials still don't know what caused a fire at a singlew~de mobile home in Kamilche last week. There were no injuries during the blaze. which was initially reported as a brush fire just aider 3:30 p.m. Aug. 16 in the 600 block of Southeast Kamilche Point Road. The home was deemed a total loss. Mason County Fire District 4 crews re- sponded ~o the fire. It took firefighters be- tween 30-45 minutes to extinguish it. "Given the hea~ and the extent of the fire damage, we went to a defensive attack." Fire District 4 Assistant Chief Eric Biehl said. Mason County Medic One was on hand to provide rehabilitation and liquids to respond- ers and the female occupant of the residence. Biehl said he did not know the estimated val- ue of the loss. but said Red Cross officials were notified so the woman had a place to stay. STORE & DELl SPECIALS-- AUG 23- 29 Arson suspect deemed competent to stand trial By EMILY HANSON ment hearing, Falter entered a not guilty e~'nil'~,@/t~onco~t~tyx:oz~t plea in Mason County Superior Court. Falter is accused of breaking out the win- dows of his rental house, busting holes into The suspect of a home arson last month the walls, throwing knives at the walls and has been declared competent to stand trial, putting fireworks, wood debris and clothing On July 7. Jason Falter. 34. was arrest- items into the oven before setting it to 550 ed and charged with first-degree arson and degrees Fahrenheit, its highest setting. first-degree malicious mischief after a fire Initial reports showed that the first 911 was reported at 36 W. Wivell Road. Shel- call reported the structure fire call at 5:14 ton. a.m. However. an earlier disturbance call Falter, who has been diagnosed with bi- was discovered from 2:41 a.m. polar disorder 1. underwent a competency Last week. Mason County Sheriffs Of- evaluation with Western State Hospital. rice Chief Deupty Dean Byrd said an inter- "His evaluation came back 'compenent.'" nal investigation was still ongoing into why said Ron Sergi, Falter's court-appointed de- there was no response from the 2:41 a.m. fense attorney. "I'm still checking on other call. mental defenses." Falter is scheduled to appear in superior On Aug. 13 during his initial, arraign- cour~ on Monday on the criminal calendar. ..... Coors & CoorsLight 18 pk. 12 ' z. cans i iV Cartb:~ .~ 1118KOKOMISH NOW OPEN ....... ...... ........ . ..... ,! ........