Clallam County Bar

Clallam County lawyers & legal news

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Free legal advice Saturday June 18 2022

Clallam County Pro Bono

On Saturday, February 12, 2022, the Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers will provide a free legal aid clinic from 10-noon, by phone or zoom.

It helps the pro bono office if clients register in advance, but it is not necessary. Contact information is below.

Legal topics which can be discussed in these pro bono sessions may include:

  • Divorce, custody, child support and other family law matters
  • Landlord-tenant issues
  • Domestic violence and sexual assault
  • Creditor issues and bankruptcy
  • Estate planning
  • Employment
  • Foreclosure

Registering in advance is required by calling 360-504-2422, or emailing [email protected].

Additional free legal clinics will be offered every other month throughout 2022, on August 20, October 15, and December 3rd.

Free legal advice Saturday April 16 2022

On Saturday, April 16, 2022, the Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers will provide a free legal aid clinic from 10-noon, by phone or zoom.

It helps the pro bono office if clients register in advance, but it is not necessary. Contact information is below.

Legal topics which can be discussed in these pro bono sessions may include:

  • Divorce, custody, child support and other family law matters
  • Landlord-tenant issues
  • Domestic violence and sexual assault
  • Creditor issues and bankruptcy
  • Estate planning
  • Employment
  • Foreclosure

Registering in advance is required by calling 360-504-2422, or emailing [email protected].

Additional free legal clinics will be offered every other month throughout 2022, on June 18, August 20, October 15, and December 3rd.

Free legal advice Saturday February 12 2022

On Saturday, February 12, 2022, the Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers will provide a free legal aid clinic from 10-noon, by phone or zoom.

It helps the pro bono office if clients register in advance, but it is not necessary. Contact information is below.

Legal topics which can be discussed in these pro bono sessions may include:

  • Divorce, custody, child support and other family law matters
  • Landlord-tenant issues
  • Domestic violence and sexual assault
  • Creditor issues and bankruptcy
  • Estate planning
  • Employment
  • Foreclosure

Registering in advance is required by calling 360-504-2422, or emailing [email protected].

Additional free legal clinics will be offered every other month throughout 2022, on April 16, June 18, August 20, October 15, and December 3rd.

Law Day 2022: Toward a more perfect union

29 April 2022 is Law Day and the theme is Toward a more perfect union: the constitution in the times of change. The Clallam Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers (CJCPBL) will host the a celebration event with Judge Creatura, Federal Magistrate for the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. The hybrid event will be held at noon, by Zoom and in person at Kokopelli’s restaurant.

(Please note, Kokopelli’s owner was one of the people who sued the county to eliminate the former mask mandate. The Clallam and Jefferson County Health Officer, Dr. Berry, advises people to continue wearing masks indoors. The omicron B2 variant is aggressively spreading in the UK since all pandemic measures were terminated in February 2022. US officials are expecting a new wave of the pandemic in the coming weeks.)

Judge Creatura’s presentation is titled Justice behind bars.

CJCPBL will be honoring lawyers in Clallam and Jefferson counties for exceptional pro bono service over the past year.

For registration, donations and sponsorships please contact telephone (360) 504-2422 or [email protected]  

Rialto beach storm breakers, Clallam County

Mask mandate in courtrooms lifted, still recommended

Masks are no longer required in the Clallam County Courthouse, nor in the courtrooms. Zoom appearances in many cases are still allowed, but not in all cases. Check with your lawyer, the court clerk, or courthouse facilitator if you want to appear by Zoom. The same Zoom login numbers remain in effect.

It’s respectful of others to continue wearing masks

COVID-19 is still active, and the B2 variant is raging in the United Kingdom, Europe, Korea, and China. Many Clallam County citizens remain highly vulnerable to the virus. Vaccinated people can be infectious and not know it. Even if triple/quadruple vaccinated, the vaccine may not stop the virus from living in nasal tissues. The current daily infection and also death rates are about the same or higher than the original peak in 2020, meaning there are still many, many people who are infected and passing it around.

The country with the highest amount of daily deaths is still….. the United States. The second worst is Russia and then Brazil. A few months ago experts were horrified to realize the U.S. might reach 800,000 COVID deaths. We will surpass one million COVID deaths in the next few days, and the numbers will keep rising.

The Clallam County Health Officer recommends people continue to take all precautions, including wearing masks in public.

CCB.com com urges our judges and lawyers to set a good example and continue to wear masks in court.

Clallam Resilience Project: Transforming substance abuse stigma

The Clallam Resilience Project’s monthly programming will cover managing the stigma of substance abuse. CRP is a United Way of Clallam County program.

Olympic Community of Health (OCH) recently conducted a research project exploring the presence of stigma of substance addiction across the Olympic region (Kitsap, Clallam, and Jefferson Counties). Our goal is to raise awareness of the presence of stigma on a local level, build understanding of how stigma impacts the community, and discuss a path forward in addressing stigma. Together, we can foster a region of healthy people, thriving communities. 

Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 899 2819 4489  Passcode: HOPE
Date: April 5, 2022, 10:00 a.m.

Our monthly Community Meetings each feature a local presenter speaking on topics connected to toxic stress, resiliency, and trauma-informed practices.  They are free, virtual, and open to the public, and happen every First Tuesday of the month from 10:00 – 11:30am.

Contact Kaelan Gilman for more information.
[email protected]
Learning & Outreach Coordinator
Clallam Resilience Project
United Way of Clallam County

Quileute Tribe is seeking bids for public defender services

The Quileute Tribe (Tribe), a federally recognized Indian Tribe located in La Push, Washington, requests bids to provide Public Defender services appointed by the court as needed, is responsible for representing tribal members and other Native Americans coming under the jurisdiction of the tribal court charged with violations of the criminal code in cases before the court.

The Public Defender also represents individuals in dependency/ICW matters, Parents and/ or Guardians in dependency proceedings in Quileute Family Court. These duties are preformed from initiation of the case through exhaustion of all appeals. Court is held three times a month, the first, second, and fourth Tuesday of each month. Additional court proceedings do take place outside of our 3 court docket days per month. Court proceedings may be virtual.

For more information, contact [email protected].

Clallam County civil rights lawyer settles lawsuit

Clallam County civil rights lawyer William Payne and his clients have settled their lawsuit to end the vaccination mandate for restaurant goers. Clallam County had imposed back in September, 2021, a requirement that anyone dining inside a restaurant was required to have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Clallam County has agreed to end the vaccine requirement by March 11, 2022, if certain health conditions are present.

Mr. Payne, a Sequim lawyer, was representing six restaurants, Kokopelli Grill / Coyote BBQ Pub in Port Angeles, the Blackberry Cafe in Joyce, and The Oasis Bar and Grill, Blondie’s Plate, Sunshine Cafe, and Jose’s Famous Salsa and Salsa House Restaurant all in Sequim.

The restaurant owners claimed the health orders, designed to protect people’s health from the pandemic virus, violated their economic liberty.

According to the Peninsula Daily News, the case rate and ICU occupancy rate were very high at the time of the settlement, due to the omicron variant. The ICU occupancy rate was 90-100% full and the case rate is over 1,600 per 100,000. The settlement requires the case rate to less than 200 per 100,000 and the ICU occupancy rate to be less than 90%. The County expected these target rates to be met by March 11, so health officials felt they were able to give the restaurant owners a target date for their planning purposes. The restaurant owners agreed to dismiss their lawsuit, and to pay their own attorney fees, although there was no disclosure about how much, if any, attorney fees had been incurred.

COVID-19: Jury trials suspended in February and/or March 2022

UPDATED: Criminal jury trials are now suspended an additional month, through March 13, 2022. Civil jury trials are still suspended through March 31, 2022. See Emergency Order January 28, 2022.

By Emergency Order January 14, 2022, jury trials have been suspended again because of the raging pandemic. Criminal jury trials are suspended through February 14, 2022. Civil jury trials are suspended through March 31, 2022. Divorce and bench trials are not suspended, and will proceed as scheduled in person or remotely.

Courtrooms are open, but the judges strongly encourage remote appearances by Zoom or phone. Exhibit A to the Emergency Order is the same as previously, and gives direction for appearing remotely.

For criminal trials, it is imperative defendants follow the rules for obtaining a new trial date. Failure to do so may result in a warrant being issued or bail revoked.

Editor’s note: These delays in justice can be frustrating and sometimes even hurtful. The purpose is to protect peoples lives, our local economy and our local health care services and providers. Infection rates and deaths remain at all time highs. If you find yourself getting angry, a natural feeling, please take a moment to find some grace and consideration for everyone involved, including yourself.

Emergency Order January 14, 2022, with Exhibit A

Emergency-Order-1.14.22Download

The trial of Dennis Marvin Bauer

The triple murder trial of Dennis Marvin Bauer was a considerable and costly undertaking for Clallam County. It may be Clallam County’s largest criminal investigation, and is one of our county’s most complex criminal trials. The murders of Darrell Iverson, Jordan Iverson, and Tiffany May took place on December 26, 2018. He was charged with three counts of murder and multiple other charges on January 25, 2019. He denied all charges and after a trial he was found guilty of 16 counts by a jury of his peers on January 10, 2022.

Some of the remarkable case facts

1 Defendant
2 Days for the jurors to reach a verdict on all counts
2 Special motions to handle COVID-19 related issues (including a vaccine requirement for jurors)
3 Judges
3 Murderers
3 Murdered
7 Trial dates
7 Weeks of trial
8 Lawyers
9 Weeks from the start to the end of the trial
11 Orders to transport people in custody
12 Law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation
13 Months from the crime to the arrest
15 Weeks from the start of the trial to sentencing on 2-22-2022
16 Jurors on the panel (4 alternates in case someone got sick)
25 Months from the start of the case to sentencing
29 Days that Angela May, mother of victim Tiffany May, sat in the courtroom watching the trial
33 Pages in the juror’s verdict form
38 Months from the crime to the conviction
39 Pages in the list of trial exhibits
59 Pages of jury instructions read and given to the jurors
80 Witnesses
125 $/hr for defendant’s attorney (paid by county)
132 Jurors in the panel of potential jurors
150 $/hr for defendant’s private investigator (paid by county)
319 Pages in the Clerk’s trial notes (JAVS docket)
990+ Trial exhibits
1,000’s Of pages of police reports
20,000 Dollars paid by county to the defendant’s private investigator
200,000+ Dollars paid by county to defendant’s lawyer (estimated)
680,000+ Dollars spent by the Clallam County Sheriff’s department to investigate
1,000,000+ Dollars spent on investigating and prosecuting Marvin Dennis Bauer

Unknown

Tears shed
People negatively impacted
Clallam County departments involved in some way
Total number of hours devoted to the investigation, trial, and consolation of surviving victims
The total actual cost to Clallam County, the State of Washington, and society

Clallam County’s most murderous

  1. Matthew Timothy Wetherington, four murders
    1. On July 6, 2019, he beat his wife, Valerie Kambeitz, and her three children to death, and then set their mobile home on fire with their bodies inside. “Total annihilation of his family” said prosecutor Michele Devlin.
  2. Dennis Marvin Bauer, three murders
  3. Ryan Warren Ward, three murders
    1. (Bauer co-defendant. Co-defendant Kallie Ann LeTellier plead guilty to helping murder Tiffany May, one of the three murdered by Bauer and Ward)
  4. Darold Ray Stenson, two murders
    1. On March 25, 1993, he shot and killed his wife and business partner. The conviction in his first trial was overturned by the Washington State Supreme Court for mishandled evidence, but he was convicted in a second trial in November 2013. Just the legal fees for his lawyers in the second trial (only) were approximately $900,000.

If you have information to add, or see mistakes, please contact CCB.com. The information above is mostly from court documents, and some from the thorough coverage by Paul Gottlieb, Rob Ollikainen, and the rest of the team at the Peninsula Daily News.