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Last Friday, Umatilla County District Attorney Dean Gushwa was arrested and booked at his own county's jail. The arrest was based on five charges of official misconduct, alleging he used his office to obtain sex and tried to cover it up. Gushwa's arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday. He is expected to plead not guilty, and has vowed to sue the Oregon Department of Justice in federal court for violating the arrest process.
Official misconduct is a Class A misdemeanor in Oregon, the same class of crime that shoplifting items valued between $100 and $1000 falls under. There currently is no felony official misconduct crime in Oregon, but the Department of Justice hopes to change that. Attorney General John Kroger is drafting a bill to change official misconduct to a felony, and plans to introduce it to the legislature early next year. Proponents of the legal change say that prosecutors need more leverage in official misconduct cases than what misdemeanors provide.
In Pendleton, the Umatilla County seat, reporting on the Gushwa story has brought its share of challenges. Pendleton is a city of about 17,000. For local reporters, a small population can be both a help and a hindrance to accurate reporting, especially in crime stories. On one hand, gaining access to story sources is easier for many reporters in small towns than in large cities. At the East Oregonian, reporter Phil Wright says it is not unusual to see his sources at the local gym or grocery store. On the other hand, gossip and misinformation spread rapidly, and when it comes to readers commenting about unresolved crime cases on a newspaper's website, journalists find themselves facing new editorial challenges.
How tough do you think official misconduct law should be? How do digital media and interactive platforms, like comment threads on websites, change the way news organizations engage with the public? How can web comments from the public be harmful or beneficial to crime cases? Have you ever made an online comment about a crime story?
GUESTS:
- Phil Wright: Crime, court and politics reporter for the East Oregonian
- Josh Marquis: District attorney of Clatsop County
- Alex Gibney: Oscar-winning filmmaker
- Tung Yin: Professor of law at Lewis and Clark College
- Scott Angus: Editor of Janesville Gazette in Wisconsin
Tagged as: attorney · district · misconduct · offical
Photo credit: steakpinball / Creative Commons
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The main problem with public corruption is it is nearly impossible to get any government agency to investigatge it and the courts are always biased toward their fellow civil servants. If one works for the government one must be a TEAM PLAYER. Dont think for a moment that the public employee unions are interested in stopping public corruption .. NOT THEIR JOB.
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A DA has an awful lot of power and responsibility and they ought to be held to a higher standard because of that, so I agree that it ought to be changed to a felony.
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Posted in error.
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This is a strange way to deal with this story. There has been virtually no coverage by the press. The Oregonian in Portland, reprinted the first article written by the east oregonian. Since that time, I have seen nothing. You would think the people of Umatilla county live on Mars.
Furthermore, it appears that the East Oregonian does not know how to do an Oregon records request or a freedom of information act request. Here we are with an ELECTED official facing criminal charges and we basically know nothing. Besides all of that we don't have a DA who has been elected by the people of Pendleton now. Why hasn't the governor appointed someone local?
What a mess! Gushwa and his girlfriends made the court system out here look like a Kangaroo Court on Viagra.
Please ask the hard questions on your broadcast. Why hasn't the East Oregonian seriously investigated this case? How is it that our votes can be just cast aside by Salem? How is it that a moron like Gushwa got into office in the first place?
Thank you.
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I have friends who live in that area (Hermiston, Stanfield) including a National Guard friend who's stationed in Pendelton. From what they tell me, the local govt. out there is soo corrupt if only the entire state knew it would be a massive scandle in OR. I visited Hermiston this past Spring & i gotta tell you, i had a good time with my friends but the area itself was beyond depressing. it really does seem like the state Attorney General should get invovled.
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Why it seems like it was only a month or so ago that Emily did some shows about the Pendleton Roundup and those Pendleton folks were boasting about how they are the "Good Americans" with the "Real Family Values" and are so different from the city folks who were all Liberal Democrats with bad values.
Well, the truth is out now, and those Pendleton folks need to be real embarrassed.
And that's funny!
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I applaud the editor of the newspaper in Wisconsin. Comments should be limited to newspapers or radio programs like this because when commenters are anonymous and when the internet is free, many commenters do not take the time to formulate and post thoughtful comments. With online commenting, as with Facebook or online amateur reporting, the you get what you pay.
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Geez, a DA having a sexual relationship with someone in his own office?
Of all the people who ought to know better, a person who has 4 yrs of college and 4 more of Law, some years of on the job experience and then had to pass the Oregon State Bar exams, and then been a DA for some time reading and hearing about criminal investigations and then prosecuting people for various crimes, well, a DA certainly cannot claim ignorance of the Law, and that includes sexual harrasment, which he would have had to hold classes on in his own office. Even consensual sex with his own employee, is very unwise.
It doesn't look good.
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I disagree with the idea that we should increase the category of official misconduct to a felony.
Prosecutors already have too much leverage when it comes to charging suspects. I am a lawyer (in Umatilla County), and regretably there are times where the potential consequences of trying a case to a jury are astronomical. The consequences are severe because of the number of felonies already on the books and the mandatory minimum sentencing schemes. From a risk-analysis perspective, it can be an unwise choice to proceed to trial - even when there is a sound defense.
For people facing official misconduct charges, the threat of a misdemeanor is sufficiently severe. Many of them have careers in public service and no criminal record.
This is not a "loophole," and it does not need to be fixed.
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This is Phil Wright, senior reporter with the East Oregonian. I've been covering the story about Umatilla County District Attorney Dean Gushwa. I'd like to expand my answer to TOL host Emily Harris regarding the difficulties of reporting on this story.
Probably the most significant obstacle I face is knowing — at least professionally — Gushwa and the accuser. In my job I routinely speak to Gushwa and the office staff, but this story has flipped why I'm talking to them.
And I’m a member of this community, just as are the people I’m covering. I’ve run into Gushwa in the super market, I’ve seen deputy DAs at lunch or at a farmers’ market. Since breaking this story, if ask someone from that office, "How are you?" I’m no longer just being polite; I want to know what’s going on. And they know that. Most folks hush up quickly, even if we trust each other. It can be frustrating, but I get it.
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i have been ripped off by public misconduct >. seems i cant post here .. contact me at @ quid00x@aol.com>>>........... marion county is very corrupt