P-I STAFF
Thousands of crack cocaine convicts around the country -- including 29 from Western Washington -- have had their prison sentences cut since the federal government eased harsh penalties for crack that critics said were racially biased because the majority of offenders are black.
In December, over the objections of the Justice Department, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to ease the way courts meted out penalties for drug crimes to rectify disparities in the way judges have treated crack crimes versus those involving powder cocaine. Four out of five crack defendants are black, while most powder cocaine convicts are white.
The new sentencing guidelines, which took effect in March, allowed nearly 20,000 people convicted of crack cocaine offenses to seek retroactive reductions in their prison time. About 1,600 federal inmates were eligible for immediate release.
About five inmates from Western Washington have been released so far, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Whalley. He said the cases of two dozen more inmates are being reviewed to determine if they are eligible for sentence reductions.
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Friday, April 25, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Judge declares mistrial in alleged murder-for-hire case
By Seattle Times staff
A King County judge this afternoon declared a mistrial in the second trial of a 19-year-old Des Moines man accused of killing another man in an alleged murder-for-hire plot prosecutors say was hatched by the victim's wife.
Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez declared the mistrial in Wilson Sayachack's trial after a witness who claimed Sayachack had confessed to the slaying recently came forward. Defense attorneys had asked for the mistrial so they could investigate the man's claims.
Sayachack was 16, prosecutors said, when he fatally shot Ronald Whitehead, 61, on March 18, 2005, in a slaying police said was made to look like a carjacking. He is being tried as an adult.
Sayachack's first trial ended in a mistrial on Feb. 7 after a jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquittal. Testimony in his second trial had begun on April 15.
Whitehead was driving to work when he was shot four times at South 188th Street and Eighth Avenue South near SeaTac, according to police. His body was pushed from the car.
His Ford Mustang was found two days later a few miles away.
According to charging papers, Sayachack hid in the trunk of Whitehead's car the morning of the shooting as Whitehead headed to work. Jon Ogden, who was Whitehead's stepson, was in the passenger seat.
Sayachack allegedly climbed through the folding back seat and shot Whitehead in the back of the head, charging papers say. Police say that Whitehead's wife, Velma Ogden-Whitehead, paid Sayachack $1,000 for the killing.
A King County judge this afternoon declared a mistrial in the second trial of a 19-year-old Des Moines man accused of killing another man in an alleged murder-for-hire plot prosecutors say was hatched by the victim's wife.
Superior Court Judge Steven Gonzalez declared the mistrial in Wilson Sayachack's trial after a witness who claimed Sayachack had confessed to the slaying recently came forward. Defense attorneys had asked for the mistrial so they could investigate the man's claims.
Sayachack was 16, prosecutors said, when he fatally shot Ronald Whitehead, 61, on March 18, 2005, in a slaying police said was made to look like a carjacking. He is being tried as an adult.
Sayachack's first trial ended in a mistrial on Feb. 7 after a jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquittal. Testimony in his second trial had begun on April 15.
Whitehead was driving to work when he was shot four times at South 188th Street and Eighth Avenue South near SeaTac, according to police. His body was pushed from the car.
His Ford Mustang was found two days later a few miles away.
According to charging papers, Sayachack hid in the trunk of Whitehead's car the morning of the shooting as Whitehead headed to work. Jon Ogden, who was Whitehead's stepson, was in the passenger seat.
Sayachack allegedly climbed through the folding back seat and shot Whitehead in the back of the head, charging papers say. Police say that Whitehead's wife, Velma Ogden-Whitehead, paid Sayachack $1,000 for the killing.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Seahawks' Bernard released from jail
P-I STAFF
Seahawks defensive lineman Rocky Bernard was released from jail on his own recognizance Tuesday after spending the night in the King County Jail for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
Bernard, 29, appearing at his hearing in a red jail jumpsuit, had been arrested by Seattle police early Monday for fourth-degree domestic violence assault, a misdemeanor.
The victim told police that just before the assault, she and a friend saw Bernard in an altercation with another woman at a Seattle nightclub. He allegedly walked over to the victim, who is the mother of one of his children, and punched her in the forehead. She and her friend ran off and called police later.
Seahawks defensive lineman Rocky Bernard was released from jail on his own recognizance Tuesday after spending the night in the King County Jail for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
Bernard, 29, appearing at his hearing in a red jail jumpsuit, had been arrested by Seattle police early Monday for fourth-degree domestic violence assault, a misdemeanor.
The victim told police that just before the assault, she and a friend saw Bernard in an altercation with another woman at a Seattle nightclub. He allegedly walked over to the victim, who is the mother of one of his children, and punched her in the forehead. She and her friend ran off and called police later.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Man exposing himself at SeaTac apartments
By TRAVIS PITTMAN / KING5.com
SEATAC, Wash. – A man who has exposed himself in public nearly a dozen times is getting bolder by getting physical with his victims.
The King County Sheriff's Office says the man has struck at least 11 times, exposing himself to women in SeaTac apartment complexes. In some cases, he has grabbed or groped the women as they walked past him. One of the victims was just 11-years-old.
The cases string from late February to as recently as April 13. The most frequently hit complex is the Carriage Windsor Apartments at 3608 S. 180th Street, where the suspect has struck seven times. There were also three cases at the Windsor Heights Apartments at 17229 32nd Avenue S. and one at the Hunt Club Apartments at 3726 S. 180th Street. Detectives think there may have been more, unreported cases.
The incidents all occurred between about 5 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
The suspect is in his mid-20's. He is 5-feet 6 inches to 5-feet 8 inches tall with olive skin. He always wears a hoodie with the hood clinched up around his face and blue or black jeans.
SEATAC, Wash. – A man who has exposed himself in public nearly a dozen times is getting bolder by getting physical with his victims.
The King County Sheriff's Office says the man has struck at least 11 times, exposing himself to women in SeaTac apartment complexes. In some cases, he has grabbed or groped the women as they walked past him. One of the victims was just 11-years-old.
The cases string from late February to as recently as April 13. The most frequently hit complex is the Carriage Windsor Apartments at 3608 S. 180th Street, where the suspect has struck seven times. There were also three cases at the Windsor Heights Apartments at 17229 32nd Avenue S. and one at the Hunt Club Apartments at 3726 S. 180th Street. Detectives think there may have been more, unreported cases.
The incidents all occurred between about 5 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
The suspect is in his mid-20's. He is 5-feet 6 inches to 5-feet 8 inches tall with olive skin. He always wears a hoodie with the hood clinched up around his face and blue or black jeans.
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