This morning’s Coeur d’Alene Press reported (see:  CoiNuts proceeding delayed) that, “The scheduled arraignment for CoiNuts owner-operator Kevin E. Mitchell didn’t proceed,” as scheduled on Wednesday, July 16, 2014.  

According to the article, public defender Linda Payne, representing defendant Kevin Mitchell, asked for the delay because she had not yet received the 725-page transcript of the grand jury proceeding.

Mitchell was indicted in late March 2014.  When did the public defender request the grand jury transcript?  Who was responsible for ensuring Mitchell’s attorney received it in time to prepare for his scheduled arraignment?  Was the delay in providing the grand jury transcript reasonable or unreasonable?  If it was unreasonable, then who was responsible for the unreasonable delay?

The agenda for tonight’s regularly-scheduled meeting of the Coeur d’Alene City Council indicates that the Public Works Committee will ask the Council to consider Council Bill 14-1012 – Robot Regulation.  Here is the City Attorney’s Staff Report and DRAFT wording of the proposed ordinance as they appeared today on the City’s website.

OpenCdA notes that the proposed ordinance’s definition of “ROBOT” is “… a self-powered, programmable mechanical device capable of operating autonomously or via remote control.”

We think before passing this ordinance as written, the City Council needs to very thoughtfully consider the wide array of devices which that definition includes and which the Council is proposing to regulate in some form or another.  (more…)

In its 2014 session, the Idaho Legislature took the smallest baby steps it could when it passed S 1369.  The bill was signed into law by the Governor on March 26, 2014, and went into effect on July 1, 2014.  It was not passed to encourage the systematic investigation and prosecution of corrupt public officials in Idaho.  It was passed to make Idaho’s county prosecuting attorneys more comfortable and politically safe.

This is made clear in the bill’s statement of purpose which reads, “This bill eliminates a conflict of interest that currently exists for county prosecutors.  County prosecutors represent county elected officials in their elected capacity, and also have a responsibility to deal with misconduct by those same county elected officials when they are acting in their official capacity.  This bill moves the misconduct authority to the Attorney General.”

The Idaho Attorney General’s homepage has a left-column button labeled “Public Corruption.”  Mouseclicking on that button will offer the reader links to two other webpages.  One of them is entitled, “Explanation of Duties and Responsibilities,” and the other is entitled, “Public Corruption Complaint Form.”

Reading the “Explanation of Duties and Responsibilities” page confirms that this new section of law “…authorizes the Attorney General to conduct ‘a preliminary investigation of any allegation of a violation of state law, criminal or civil, against a county officer occupying an elective office for violation of state law in his official capacity.’ ”

To make this crystal clear, the new law authorizes the Attorney General to conduct a preliminary investigation of allegations of misconduct only against  (1) County Commissioners; (2) County Prosecuting Attorney; (3) County Sheriff; (4) County Clerk; (5) County Assessor; (6) County Treasurer, and (7) County Coroner.

So in Kootenai County, for example, the new section of law authorizes the AG to investigate nine people, no more.   No one else unless the county prosecuting attorney invites the AG to come in.  (more…)

Remember this?  Its title is “Under the Rainbow,” and nearly a year ago it was commissioned by the City of Coeur d’Alene Art Commission to be at the entrance to McEuen Park.  This little beauty was to go for a cool $100K.  At the time, the Arts Commissioners, the Mayor and many (but not all) of the City Council gushed about how beautiful this would be.

OpenCdA was given a peek of the Arts Commission minutes of the June 17, 2014, meeting.  It seems that the Commissioners’ attitudes may be changing now that the art has been accepted and installed and the check written to the artist.

Here is what the minutes reflect Arts Commission members saying now about “Under the Rainbow” at their most recent meeting:  (more…)

This morning’s local skewspaper, the Coeur d’Alene Press, informed its readers that the First Judicial District’s Magistrate Commission had picked Coeur d’Alene Deputy City Attorney Anna Eckhart to replace retiring Magistrate Penny Friedlander.

OpenCdA and several other very interested citizens sat through the six hours of interviews of the six finalists conducted by the Magistrate Commission.  Four of the 14 Commissioners were absent from the interviews.   OpenCdA’s request to review all 17 applicants’ application forms, letters of recommendation, and results of investigation had been denied on Wednesday by Trial Court Administrator Karlene Behringer.

Based only on the Thursday interviews, OpenCdA would agree that from among the four local applicants, Anna Eckhart was a suitable choice.

But among the six finalists there were two applicants who were not local.  They were passed over and were in our view superior to Eckhart and the other three local finalists in depth and breadth of legal practice experience in and out of the courtroom.  The two applicants who were rejected by the First District Magistrate Commission were Barbara Ann Duggan, a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney from Ada County, and James Craig, Assistant Chief Counsel of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Orlando, Florida.  Mr. Craig also has an advanced law degree, a Master of Laws from American University Washington College of Law.  (more…)

According to First District Court Trial Court Administrator Karlene Behringer’s press release sent Monday, June 16th at 6:21 PM, the six finalists for the Magistrate Judge vacancy will be interviewed on Thursday, June 19th at 9 AM.  The six finalists are identified in the press release and include applicants from Boise, Coeur d’Alene, Rathdrum, and Orlando, Florida.

The interviews conducted by the Magistrate Commission will be open to the public, however the deliberations by the Commission will not.

Our call to Karlene Behringer with some questions about the process has not been returned.

Our OpenCdA post entitled Selecting a New Magistrate Judge posted on May 29th identified the members of the Magistrate Commission who will be conducting the interviews.  It also linked to the local skewspaper’s article identifying the 17 original candidates.