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Jailed though never indicted, Ore. man seeks $3.5 million
Friday, March 28, 2008 | No comments posted.
BEND (AP) — The lawyer for a man who pleaded guilty to a crime for which he was never indicted has filed a $3.5 million lawsuit against Attorney General Hardy Myers and several Jefferson County officials.
David Lee Simmons, 19, spent 30 days in jail and was ordered to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to felony charges of rape and sodomy in 2006.
After his release, however, it was discovered he was never indicted — a fact everyone involved in the case overlooked. Jefferson County Judge George Neilson soon ruled a “legal nullity” and the case appeared closed.
Not quite.
The Jefferson County prosecutor opted to file new charges: third-degree sexual abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, both misdemeanors. That trial is scheduled for early June in Jefferson County.
Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers’ office took over the case last summer after the county prosecutor bowed out.
Simmons’ new lawyer, Steven Richkind of Sandy, filed a federal lawsuit last week against Myers, Jefferson County District Attorney Peter Deuel and others involved in the case.
“It seeks two things: One is to stop the state prosecution based on the concepts of ’double jeopardy,’ due process and fundamental fairness,” Richkind said. The other is $3.5 million in economic and punitive damages for Simmons, who now lives in Texas.
The state has yet to file a response to the lawsuit, Stephanie Soden, a spokeswoman for Myers, told The Oregonian newspaper.
The charges resulted from a relationship Simmons began with a 14-year-old girl when he was 17 and continued after he turned 18 and she turned 15.
A grand jury convened a week after the arrest found insufficient evidence to charge Simmons with rape and sodomy. But that didn’t stop the case from moving forward.
Simmons pleaded guilty and apologized to the girl’s family at his sentencing in 2006. When he was released from jail later that month, an alert member of the grand jury noticed a news story and contacted the district attorney’s office, questioning how Simmons had been prosecuted without being indicted.
“My thought at the time would be, they would apologize to him and pay him some money,” said Laura Graser, a Portland criminal defense lawyer familiar with the case. “I can’t believe they’re prosecuting him again.”
David Lee Simmons, 19, spent 30 days in jail and was ordered to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to felony charges of rape and sodomy in 2006.
After his release, however, it was discovered he was never indicted — a fact everyone involved in the case overlooked. Jefferson County Judge George Neilson soon ruled a “legal nullity” and the case appeared closed.
Not quite.
The Jefferson County prosecutor opted to file new charges: third-degree sexual abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, both misdemeanors. That trial is scheduled for early June in Jefferson County.
Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers’ office took over the case last summer after the county prosecutor bowed out.
Simmons’ new lawyer, Steven Richkind of Sandy, filed a federal lawsuit last week against Myers, Jefferson County District Attorney Peter Deuel and others involved in the case.
“It seeks two things: One is to stop the state prosecution based on the concepts of ’double jeopardy,’ due process and fundamental fairness,” Richkind said. The other is $3.5 million in economic and punitive damages for Simmons, who now lives in Texas.
The state has yet to file a response to the lawsuit, Stephanie Soden, a spokeswoman for Myers, told The Oregonian newspaper.
The charges resulted from a relationship Simmons began with a 14-year-old girl when he was 17 and continued after he turned 18 and she turned 15.
A grand jury convened a week after the arrest found insufficient evidence to charge Simmons with rape and sodomy. But that didn’t stop the case from moving forward.
Simmons pleaded guilty and apologized to the girl’s family at his sentencing in 2006. When he was released from jail later that month, an alert member of the grand jury noticed a news story and contacted the district attorney’s office, questioning how Simmons had been prosecuted without being indicted.
“My thought at the time would be, they would apologize to him and pay him some money,” said Laura Graser, a Portland criminal defense lawyer familiar with the case. “I can’t believe they’re prosecuting him again.”
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