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DA: Coquille arrest case goes to grand jury
By Damian Boudreau, Staff Writer
Saturday, February 2, 2008 9:13 AM PST
The Coos County district attorney has convened a grand jury to hear evidence in an incident in which a Coquille man was critically injured during an arrest.
District Attorney R. Paul Frasier also has asked for assistance in the investigation by an authority on the use of force by police.
 R. Paul Frasier, District attorney
In a press release Friday, Frasier said, given the nature of the injuries suffered by Carl Foster, the matter should be reviewed by a grand jury. The jury could meet on Feb. 22, according to the release.
Foster was critically injured during an arrest Jan. 12 by Coquille Police Officers James Bryant and Chris Webley. The officers were seeking Foster following a criminal mischief complaint the previous day.
According to a Jan. 16 press release from the DA’s office, Foster resisted arrest and was taken to the ground by the officers. A recording of police radio traffic during the incident included a call for medical assistance by two officers on the scene, who noted Foster had stopped breathing and was complaining of pain in his chest. After being taken to Coquille Valley Hospital, Foster was life-flighted to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, where he underwent surgery to a fractured vertebra and where he remains paralyzed from the neck down.
In a phone interview Friday, Frasier was adamant that his decision to convene the grand jury was to sort out the facts and fully investigate the incident, and did not indicate any suspicion the officers did anything wrong. He simply wants the jury to review the case and provide further insight, he said.
“I’m not saying at this point that the officers should be charged with a crime,” Frasier said.
Input from the grand jury will help steer the direction of the case, he said, adding that similar grand juries have been called up for investigating officer-involved shootings. Frasier said that because of the number of witnesses, he expects the inquiry to last more than a day, but could not pinpoint just how long the jury might convene.
“I don’t know how long it will take,” he said.
Officials at the Coquille Police Department have been completely cooperative with the investigation so far, Frasier said, adding he fully expects Officers Bryant and Webley to take the stand. He said he did not know if the two men have legal representation.
In addition to the officers, Frasier said he plans to call a number of witnesses to testify, including Foster’s neighbors, the man’s ex-girlfriend, other Coquille officers at the scene that morning, neighbors living near the location of the arrest and Coquille resident Lucile Phillips. Phillips made the initial 911 call on Jan. 11 that led the officers the next day to 440 E. Third St., where Foster was working.
Frasier provided new details surrounding Phillips’ 911 call recording released Wednesday. On the recording, Phillips recounts a man chasing her sedan in a pickup as she drove along Shelley Road with a passenger after leaving a trailer owned by Foster. The man eventually passed the sedan, stopped on the roadway and used a hammer to smash her windshield after the two women refused to open the doors. Frasier identified Phillips’ passenger as Foster’s ex-girlfriend, 37-year-old Julie Tabernig.
On the recording, Phillips’ call was passed from one dispatcher to another. Frasier said that was because an initial confrontation between Foster and the two women took place at Foster’s home, which is located in the jurisdiction of the Coos County Sheriff’s Office, but the subsequent hammer attack took place in Coquille Police Department jurisdiction. After her phone call, both a sheriff’s deputy and Coquille Officer Chris Webley investigated the incident, he said.
His decision to convene a grand jury into the incident had nothing to do with the recordings, he added.
To aid in the investigation, the release said, Frasier asked for the assistance of “a recognized authority on the use of force by police officers” recommended to him by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. The man has worked on use of force investigations with the Oregon Attorney General’s Office and the Oregon State Police, the release said. Frasier has asked the expert to conduct an independent review of the investigation and offer advice. Frasier refused to provide the name of the expert.
The investigation into the incident, spearheaded by North Bend Police Department Detective Milo Arnesen of the Coos County Major Crime Team, is continuing, Frasier said.
Frasier said he is unsure if Officers Bryant and Webley remain on the job. The decision whether they stay on the beat is left up to the Coquille Police Department, he added. Officials from the Coquille Police have refused to comment, referring all questions to the DA’s office.
At Sacred Heart, Foster continues his rehabilitation after the injury. His daughter, Kaycee Faught, said her dad remains on life support machines, including a ventilator.
Now back at her home in Yakima, Wash., after nearly three weeks in Eugene, Faught said she was unaware of Frasier’s decision to call a grand jury. She also said she hasn’t heard from any of the investigators other than Arnesen, who called weeks ago looking for a phone number. Frasier said he called Faught and left a message, but his call was not returned. Faught plans to return to Eugene in a few days.
Foster remains in the hospital’s intensive care unit in serious condition.
— Staff writer Jessica Musicar contributed to this story. |
