Court Digest

Oklahoma
Affidavit made public on judge’s sexual allegations
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A search warrant affidavit describing interactions of repeated instances of unwanted sexual approaches by an Oklahoma County judge has been made public after three attorneys making the accusations said it took them a long time to come forward because they feared for their careers.

The search warrant was made public Monday on the allegations of sexual misconduct against Oklahoma County District Judge Timothy Henderson.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was asked to investigate at the request of District Attorney David Prater after two of his prosecutors and a female defense attorney accused the judge of sexual misconduct.

Henderson, 62, resigned in March after the three women came forward.

Oklahoma City trial lawyer Jacqui Ford said the unwanted approaches started in 2016. At one point, Henderson called her to his office, “shut the door, turned her around, kissed her and put her hand on his erect penis (over the clothes),” Ford said.

A second attorney said Henderson began hugging her last year and squeezed her buttocks during one hug. She alleges at one point Henderson groped her from behind and was forced to kiss him as he inappropriately touched her.

Henderson’s attorney told The Oklahoman that she hopes the OSBI will also present to prosecutors the women’s emails to the judge “asking him to do various sexual things.”
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation continues to investigate.

North Dakota
Man who killed himself in courtroom faced minimum of 7 years
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A man who killed himself inside a federal courthouse in North Dakota after he was convicted for brandishing a weapon at a minor faced a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum term of life, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Jurors had just departed the Fargo courtroom on Monday when Jeffrey Sahl Ferris, 55, of Belcourt, North Dakota, slashed his throat with what an FBI spokesman called “an easily concealable instrument” and died after U.S. marshals and other court personnel attempted life-saving measures. An autopsy was being conducted Tuesday.

FBI spokesman Kevin Smith said his agency will investigate whether any federal criminal laws were broken in the incident. The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for security of the courthouse.
“Officials there will review their security procedures to ensure the safety of the courthouse family and those visiting the facility,” Smith said.

Acting U.S. Attorney Nick Chase of North Dakota declined to comment about any details of the incident other than to say there were five employees from his office in the courtroom at the time and “none of them were physically hurt.”

Ferris was found guilty of terrorizing, reckless endangerment and the most serious charge, use of a firearm in relation to a felony crime of violence. Federal sentencing guidelines, which take into account criminal history, acceptance of responsibility and other factors, would have helped determine Ferris’ sentence.

Ferris’ attorney, Ward K. Johnson III, did not respond to email inquiries from The Associated Press.

Ferris was arrested for an incident in April 2020 on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, in northern North Dakota near the Canadian border. Ferris was not an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, according to court documents.

Ferris told investigators he believed several minors were vandalizing property on the reservation and began chasing them with his Jeep. One teen said Ferris was driving “80 mph” and nearly hit some of them while they were fleeing on dirt bikes and four-wheelers.

Investigators said after one of the minors crashed his dirt bike into a fence, Ferris got out of his vehicle and brandished a firearm. Ferris told the youth to stay on the ground, said he was going to call the police and that he “got one,” documents said.

Ferris denied pointing the gun at anyone, the affidavit stated.

The jury found Ferris not guilty on eight counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in relation to allegedly targeting the minors with his vehicle.

The Turtle Mountain Star newspaper reported in July 2020 that a terrorizing charge against Ferris in Rolette County District Court had been dismissed, more than two months after the federal indictment was filed.

Oregon
Woman sues saying landlord coerced her into sex
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A lawsuit filed by a woman who rented from a Bell Real Estate subsidiary alleges the property owner harassed her then coerced her into having sex with him to avoid eviction.
The woman claims the company did nothing when alerted to the situation, The Register-Guard reported.

In a federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in Eugene in March, a woman living in Lane County claims Pinewood Properties owner and manager Richard Sorric coerced her into a sexual relationship to keep her home then retaliated and asked for back rent when she refused to keep having sex with him.

The newspaper and The Associated Press do not identify survivors of sexual harassment or abuse without their consent. The lawsuit uses a pseudonym “because of the sensitive, humiliating and stigmatizing nature of the factual allegations” in the case, according to a complaint footnote.

She started renting from Pinewood Properties in November 2018 and moved out of the property over a year ago, said Meredith Holley, her attorney.

Attorneys representing Bell Real Estate, Pinewood Properties and Sorric deny nearly all of the woman’s claims in legal filings and say her lawsuit fails to state a claim and was filed too late for damages.

Sorric “absolutely and categorically denies the defamatory allegations made against him in the plaintiff’s Complaint,” Jeffrey Daly, one of his attorneys, wrote in an email.

Daly added that Bell also has “denied all wrongdoing in this matter, and will continue to do so.”

Bell Real Estate is now suing her for back rent and other costs.

Nevada
Court ruling frees man convicted of child sex crime
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man convicted of kidnapping and sexual assaulting a 6-year-old girl has been released from prison after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled there was misconduct during his trial.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that their ruling led to an order Monday for the immediate release of 41-year-old Diego Salazar.

Salazar was found guilty in 2015 and sentenced to 41 years. Prosecutors allege in 2013, he dragged the victim into his camper in an Indian Springs trailer park and assaulted her.

The state’s highest court pointed to a meeting in chambers between Assistant District Attorney Robert Daskas and now-retired District Judge Doug Smith during the trial. Smith did not allow defense attorneys to join. Later, Smith nullified an outstanding warrant for a witness who flew in to testify that she saw the victim leave Salazar’s camper.

Salazar and his attorneys have since met with Daskas and do not believe the prosecutor had asked for any special favors.

In court Monday, Salazar accepted an Alford agreement and pleaded guilty to one count each of battery with substantial bodily harm and possession of a controlled substance. Under an Alford agreement, he acknowledged only that prosecutors had enough evidence to prove the allegations to a jury.

Besides being released, he will not have to register as a sex offender.

Maryland
Jury finds man, 19, guilty of murder
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — A Prince George’s County jury has found a 19-year-old man guilty of first-degree murder in connection with a shooting in 2018, and authorities say he’s also facing charges of witness intimidation.

The State’s Attorney Office said in a news release that Tavon Barnes was convicted on Monday in the death of Karim Thomas. Barnes was also convicted of the use of a firearm during a crime of violence and faces a possible sentence of life plus 20 years in prison.

On April 18, 2018, Greenbelt police officers responding to a shooting found Thomas, 18, suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper chest while lying at the bottom of a stairwell where he was pronounced dead. Witness testimony, along with DNA and firearms evidence, revealed that Barnes was the shooter. After the murder, Barnes fled to New York where he was arrested and extradited in February 2019 and subsequently indicted by a grand jury sitting for Prince George’s County.

Barnes is also charged with four counts of witness intimidation related to the case. Those charges are pending a separate trial scheduled for August 2021. If found guilty, he could face up to an additional 40 years to his life sentence.

Rhode Island
Recently released sex offender faces  new assault charges
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A convicted sex offender who got out of prison just last year after nearly 20 years behind bars faces three new sexual assault charges for allegedly targeting immigrants who were not in the U.S. legally, Providence police say.

Juan Martinez, 55, hired women for cleaning services and sexually assaulted them, Providence police Detective Maj. David Lapatin said Tuesday.

Martinez thought women who were not legal residents of the U.S. would not report him.

The first alleged assault occurred in October, but police did not have enough evidence to arrest him until Monday when another woman came forward to say he had assaulted her at his apartment. Police think there may be other victims.

Martinez was held without bail at his arraignment Tuesday. He did not enter pleas and no defense attorney was listed in court records. He was referred to the public defender’s office.

Martinez was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison on 2001 for sexually assaulting a woman.