In brief: Charges against attorney in rape case can be upgraded
A Spokane County Superior Court judge ruled Friday that prosecutors can increase the charges filed against attorney Robert Caruso, who is accused of raping a woman last fall.
Caruso, 76, was arrested in November after a 22-year-old woman told police that Caruso drove by the scene where she had a car accident on Sept. 6 and offered to take her to the hospital. Instead, he allegedly took her to his South Hill condominium and drugged and raped her, according to court documents.
The charges originally filed against Caruso were for second-degree rape and unlawful imprisonment. Judge Michael Price allowed those to be upgraded to first-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping.
Caruso’s attorney, David Partovi, said previously that his client did not deny that the woman was in his condo but maintains that sex was consensual. In court documents Partovi argued that there wasn’t enough evidence to support new charges.
The attorney general’s office is prosecuting the case. “The defense has been on notice for some time that the case was charged to promote a plea agreement and that the State intended to amend the information in the event the parties could not reach a plea agreement,” Assistant Attorney General Tienney Milnor wrote.
Caruso ran unsuccessfully for Spokane County prosecutor in 2006.
Man dies in collision near Moses Lake
An Odessa, Washington, man died Friday when the pickup he was driving was struck by a semitruck east of Moses Lake, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Michael Walter, 56, was driving west on North Frontage Road, which parallels Interstate 90, at about 10:15 a.m. when he failed to stop at a stop sign at Road N Northeast and was struck by a northbound semitruck driven by James Rivera, 33, of Moses Lake, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Walter died at a Wenatchee hospital, the sheriff’s office said. A passenger in the pickup, Robert N. Kleinhans III, 38, of Quincy, was transported to Samartian Hospital in Moses Lake and was reported to be in serious condition, the sheriff’s office said. Rivera was uninjured in the crash.
Prizes announced for annual NIC raffle
The grand prize in this year’s Really BIG Raffle by North Idaho College is a $300,000 home in the Mill River neighborhood along the Coeur d’Alene River.
In addition to the three-bedroom house, raffle prizes include a $20,000 car, a $10,000 boat, a $3,500 vacation package and a $2,000 shopping spree.
No more than 5,000 tickets will be sold for the July 8 drawing. Tickets are $100 each.
This is the 22nd year of NIC’s largest annual fundraiser, a collaboration of the NIC Foundation and the community college’s carpentry program. Proceeds support NIC student and program needs.
More information is available at (208) 769-3271 or www.nic.edu/rbr.
Ex-governor’s emails won’t be screened
SALEM – The Oregon Department of Justice is denying a request that former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s lawyers be allowed to review his private emails before they’re turned over to federal investigators, according to records released Friday.
Records also show Kitzhaber’s lawyers demanded that the state seek a court order barring Willamette Week from publishing material from the governor’s private emails, which were leaked to the Portland newspaper. That request also was rejected.
Even before he stepped down last month amid an influence-peddling scandal, Kitzhaber fought hard to protect emails from his private accounts from public disclosure.
Janet Hoffman, Kitzhaber’s criminal defense lawyer, had demanded the state allow her to remove emails she deems personal or privileged before anyone from the state reviews them for release to federal investigators, a U.S. House committee or the public.
In a letter dated Feb. 27, Deputy Attorney General Fred Boss refuses Hoffman’s request. The letter was provided to the Associated Press on Friday.
“That subpoena and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure prevent us from agreeing to your demand,” Boss wrote.
Bill creates group for lands talks with feds
BOISE – An Idaho Senate panel is considering forming a new group to negotiate public lands management with the federal government.
The Senate State Affairs Committee approved introducing the bill Friday to consider creating a nine-member board appointed by legislative leadership.
Republican Sen. Chuck Winder, who is sponsoring the plan, said the bill would not only create a new board but also a new office inside the Department of Lands.
The bill is slated to cost $250,000 per year.