Hi, I'm in California and a very long time friend is in trouble in Klameth Falls. I have been looking for a web site that is somewhat organized to find out about Oregon laws and procedures per codes etc. It is not laid out as well as California's and case law history doesn't go back very far. Maybe someone knows of an easy site to search or knows the laws fairly well to know what I'm looking for and where to find it? Any help would be appreciated.
Looking for:
1. Sentencing guidelines,
2. Public Defender's responsibilities & conduct,
3. DA quilifictions & backgrounds - guidelines or procedural conduct.

Trial is set for December. The 1st PD was fired the second PD seems to think the DA's investigation report is enough even when it can be debated if someone other than the police did it. They had placed him in the hole, restricted his diet to just sandwhichs and without the medication he needs for his sesures. This PD now has had him sent to Oregon State Hospital in Salem. She says becasue of his medical and mental problem so he can get stable, even though his medical file has already been deliveried. The doctor at the hospial wanted to know why he was sent there for a 307?
My friend's biggest problem is he is very familiar with the law and has told them how he wants his case to be handled but they are not listening. I even got written permission from him sent directly to PD for them to discuss the case with me. They fail to return calls and I have even heard the person that answersed the phone, try and be discret by asking the PD "Are you here?" Responce, "Who it it?" "MYNAME."
"NO."

Thank You,

Welcome to PTO. I cant help you, but I know that we have some members in the Oregon area that will be around tomorrow. I'm sure if you check back then you will find the help your looking for.

I can't help you with the question of where to find the information but I'm quite familiar with mental illness, and my guess would be that what your friend is telling you sounds lucid and accurate but really isn't. For him to be sent to Salem, there's quite a problem going on with his thinking and behavior. Mildly aberrant behavior-----or even moderately aberrant for that matter-----wouldn't get him sent there. He'd either be treated at the jail or sent to a local hospital to get some medication to stabilize him and then be sent back to jail. I hope I'm not offending you. But jails and prisons don't normally send inmates off to Salem even if it's necessary by our standards out here, so I'd say his being sent to Salem means he was in an extreme state at the time he was sent. Your being ignored by the PD is probably because he's closer to the problem and knows your friend's condition better than you're able to and he's just too busy to give you time. I think he could at least be courteous enough to speak to you once, though.

I'm sorry you're going through this. Have you called the facility in Salem? If you have his permission, then you should be able to speak with his doctor or someone else there to get information. However, with the new privacy laws, unless he gives the hospital permission to tell you anything, they won't be much help. Knowing mental patients as I do, in an extreme state, he may not want you to know the information and may not have given permission for them to talk with you.

I'll keep you and your friend in my prayers. The only positive note on this is that if he's in a crisis with his mental illness, at least he's getting the help he needs. So many in prisons and jails don't have that advantage and have to just suffer while locked up without proper treatment. It's possible that his mental state at the time of his crime was because he had stopped his medication, in which case, that will have a bearing on his trial that may be positive. It's possible that he isn't guilty on those grounds and that if he's got some supervision to see that he remains on medication, he might not be locked up in prison.

My long time freind is sitting in Klamath Falls Oregon Jail with beefed up charges. He is knowlegable about the law and has been head to head with the PD's that have been asigned to him. Even when he has asked for them to investigate some of the facts in the case that can be proved incorrect. They even sent him to the State Hospital to try and get an insanity plee. (Didn't Work) Now this new PD has told him he's not going to put on any defence for him to bad he don't care. Is there anyway to get a pro-pono attorney in Oregon to step in and do some justice. My friends life has been ruined over a simple blown up case of Domestic abuse. However I'm not sure who actually did the abuse the girl is a drug user and he forbids it in his home and that's what started the fight. The DA may also have drug charges in past record the whole town seems to be into drugs. The police did nothing when they took him in when he told them she had drugs on her and the A is preasuring her to testify. My friend needs help soon or he's looking at 10 years in a strange state with a father who is not well and alone. Please someone I'm worried sick. Thanks :fb:

That's the truth in a nut shell. I am always amazed in court rooms when the DA says "I 'll make a deal with you." He will reduce the charge to this lesser charge if you plead to it. I've watched people go blindly ahead with it only becasue they don't know their rights, the law or how the system works. Better yet they think the justice system is all powerful and don't make mistakes. It's all about getting the convictions, casue that's the job and bownie points, (also the money.) I could tell some stories of rights being overlooked all in the name of justice. It makes me sick! Then the FAmilies have to pay the high prices for phonecalls the long distance drives for visits, and if there are health issues I'm told the medical department is a joke. I sent mdical information to my husband and the next thing I know the medical department wants to know where I got my information. Hello! :ham: