Craig Welch

Most of the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department's emergency medical technicians aren't properly certified by the state to perform medical procedures. City officials said Monday they accidentally let the certification lapse in June.

For the first time in two years, Kootenai County commissioners will increase their budget by the 3 percent per year allowed by the state. But Commissioner Ron Rankin said the increase is the result of an "unfunded mandate" and won't raise the county's tax rate.

The owner of this waterfront lot on Sanders Beach is preparing to build a two-bedroom home. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Four women claim they were sexually harassed and discriminated against by Coeur d'Alene Inn managers, and contend parent company Hagadone Hospitality Corp. routinely tolerates such action. A lawsuit filed Monday alleges Hagadone Hospitality has adopted "Baywatch" hiring practices and intentionally exposes young women to advances by male managers. The lawsuit also suggests women employees are paid less than men and are overlooked for promotions.

FOR THE RECORD: 7-29-97 Art funds: Money made during Coeur d'Alene's Western art auction on Saturday does not benefit Kootenai County government. A story and headline in Sunday's newspaper said otherwise. The highest bidder. Auction workers display a brown bear rug that was sold Saturday at the Coeur d'Alene Art Auction, held at the Coeur d'Alene Resort. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Confined to a wheelchair, Molly Habenicht sometimes tosses rocks at windows in order to be let into public buildings. Todd DeVries, who is blind, has been forced to eavesdrop outside restrooms to ensure he enters the one for men.

They felt crushing sadness. Jurors in Spokane's bombing trial carried that burden with them as they filed into a quiet room in the U.S. Court House for deliberations Tuesday. Three Sandpoint white separatists were accused of bombing three buildings and twice robbing a bank in the Spokane Valley last year. "They were violent crimes, but these were real people," said one of the jurors, Randall Farris of Chelan, Wash. After 23 days of testimony, featuring 500 pieces of evidence and 100 witnesses, the jury of eight men and four women now had to decide: Did they do it? "We commented on the fact that now, when we could talk, it was suddenly quiet," said Julie Guggino, a juror from Ellensburg. "We prayed. Then we started." It would be the next day before they found Charles Barbee, 45; Robert Berry, 43; and Verne Jay Merrell, 51, guilty of the eight counts each faced - crimes that carry mandatory life sentences. The verdicts didn't come easily, four of the jurors said Thursday. At the outset, they voted secretly, on scraps of paper, and found themselves divided. Seven to convict; five unsure. "To me, it was anything but black and white," said Guggino, a Central Washington University graduate student. They sat at two folding tables pushed together. Jurors occasionally wandered over to the piles of evidence lined up behind them. They studied threatening letters the men were said to have written on Merrell's computer before dropping them off with a bomb at The Spokesman-Review on April 1, 1996. They scrutinized the blue jeans seized from Barbee's home, the same pair prosecutors contend were worn during an armed robbery at U.S. Bank the same day. They looked at buckshot found in bomb debris at the Planned Parenthood office on July 12, 1996, and talked about FBI reports that it was "indistinguishable" from shot found at Berry's home. And the mood grew heavier and heavier. "After a while, it was clear that the (government's) evidence was overwhelming," Farris said. "There were just too many coincidences." A handful of jurors didn't want to believe. Some admitted that they liked the men, and found their commitment to their unusual religious beliefs eerie, yet admirable. One defendant reminded a juror of her brother. But then the jurors talked about the defendants' own testimony - and the inconsistencies. They debated the trio's April 1 alibis: Berry and Merrell had claimed to be traveling; Barbee said he was home. "We went over it and over it," Guggino said. "We tried to make (the alibis) solid, but they just weren't." She was disturbed that Berry couldn't name the hotel he supposedly stayed at during an automobile trip to Michigan on April 1. Guggino couldn't see why the defendants would bomb the newspaper, but flipped through the "Vigilantes of Christendom," a religious, anti-government book seized from Barbee's home, and found her answer. One paragraph mentioned a connection between the media and usury - the charging of interest. The defendants had called usury a crime punishable by death under God's law. "To me, that was motive," she said. In the end, the jurors were convinced by the jeans, Merrell's computer and holes in the defendants' testimony. "We did everything we could to make it not so," said juror Elizabeth Polk, 71. "But there was just no getting around it." "They had potential," Polk said. "They weren't dumb. They just took a wrong turn somewhere and became something bad." They felt the men weren't cold-blooded, and unanimously agreed it wasn't an accident that no one was injured. "It was like they went out of their way to make sure no one was hurt," said Farris, a county government employee. Early Wednesday afternoon, the jurors took another vote. Jury Foreman Scott Potter announced the unanimous verdicts. The room fell silent. Yakima retiree Elmer Prokash, 83, found no joy in the moment. "I think we did the right thing," he said. "But I don't have a proud feeling about it, no sir. It just had to be done." For Guggino, it was important that the verdicts came with a struggle. "I was glad I got to know them," she said of the defendants, "... it made the decision harder."

The bombing and robbery charges were serious, but the four-week trial did have its lighter moments: Idaho lifestyles When the government's key informant, Idaho military surplus dealer Christopher Davidson Jr., testified that the three defendants lived an "upper-middle-class" lifestyle, defense attorneys pounced. Attorney Frank Conklin grilled Davidson, trying to show that defendant Verne Jay Merrell was nearly destitute.

Jurors in Spokane's terrorism trial resume deliberations this morning after spending four hours Tuesday considering the fate of three Sandpoint men. The federal jury viewed 500 pieces of evidence, heard testimony from more than 100 witnesses over 23 days and listened to 1-1/2 days of closing arguments. In a final round of arguments Tuesday morning, attorney Roger Peven insisted defendants Charles Barbee, Robert Berry and Verne Jay Merrell are falsely accused of the bombings and robberies last year in the Valley.

Spokane's accused bombers and robbers aren't prophets or regular workaday Joes, but criminals who consider themselves warriors in an army of God, a prosecutor told jurors Monday. The three Sandpoint white separatists twisted the word of the Bible to defend terrorism against a community they fear is crumbling, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Harrington said in his closing argument. "Charles Harrison Barbee is no altar boy," Harrington said. "Robert Sherman Berry is anything but an ordinary hard-working mechanic. And Verne Jay Merrell is certainly not holier than thou.

While the prosecution's case in Spokane's second bombing trial was virtually an instant replay, the overhauled defense amounted to double vision. There were twice the witnesses.

Robert Berry offered no proof Thursday that he was traveling during the first of last year's Spokane Valley bombings and robberies. On Wednesday, Berry told jurors he was driving to Michigan on April 1, 1996, when The Spokesman-Review and a nearby U.S. Bank branch were bombed. The bank also was robbed. But during cross-examination Thursday, Berry admitted he had no hotel records, receipts or witnesses to support his story.

Robert Berry told jurors Wednesday he couldn't have terrorized the Spokane Valley: During one set of bombings and robberies, he was driving to Michigan; during another, he was hosting two co-defendants at his North Idaho home. Berry repeatedly denied involvement in last year's crime spree and said the government's key informant claimed to have robbed banks before.

Prosecutors on Tuesday tried to recast Spokane Valley bombing suspect Charles Barbee as an unemployed white separatist in need of quick cash - a terrorist who used religion to further his schemes. During cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Harrington stressed Barbee couldn't produce an alibi to substantiate claims that he was home when the crimes were committed. And while defense attorneys portrayed Barbee as a child of a broken home raised by grandparents - a Catholic boy turned religious zealot who happened to fancy weapons - Harrington tried immediately to refocus the jury's picture of Barbee.

Charles Barbee

One suspect was out of state during the first of last year's Spokane bombings. The government's star witness exaggerated his role in the case, lied to an ex-cop and bragged about how much money he made as an informant. And an FBI agent suggested that a witness leave town rather than give testimony that would hurt the government's case.

Blue jeans seized from Charles Barbee's home were the same pair worn during one of last year's bombings and robberies, an FBI photo expert testified Thursday. And a military-style poncho found in Verne Jay Merrell's trailer could be the same one worn by another bank robber, the expert said. Prosecutors wound down their case against three Sandpoint white separatists Thursday with testimony from photo expert Richard W. Vorder Bruegge and a handful of explosives experts.

Documents found on Verne Jay Merrell's home computer are nearly the same as threatening notes left at one of last year's Valley bombings, an FBI computer expert told jurors Wednesday. And an FBI photo expert testified that Valley bank robbers caught on surveillance video were about the same height as suspects Robert Berry and Charles Barbee. But defense attorneys pointed out 65 word and punctuation differences between Merrell's computer document and the bombing notes and will be cross-examining the photo expert this morning.

Jurors in Spokane's bombing trial will get to read a handbook that coaches them on how to hang a jury. Suspect Robert Berry won't get to personally cross-examine his own brother. And prosecutors better not try to unearth Sandpoint militia member Del Hathaway's buried money.

Buckshot seized from Robert Berry's truck-repair shop was part of the same batch as shot used in last year's Planned Parenthood bombing, an FBI metals expert testified Monday. Meanwhile, the unusual chemical makeup suggests Berry's buckshot and the shot found at the bomb scene were bought at Spokane's White Elephant surplus store last spring, an ammunitions manufacturer later told jurors. While defense attorneys tried to suggest both conclusions were flawed, Monday's testimony established a stronger link between Berry and the July 12 bombing than similar testimony at his first trial.

The FBI urged its key informant to be cautious when secretly recording the Spokane Valley bombing and robbery suspects, the agency's lead investigator told jurors Wednesday. That's why star witness Christopher Davidson Jr. didn't push the suspects harder for details about the crimes, FBI Agent David Bedford testified. "I didn't want him to risk saying anything to jeopardize his role in this investigation," Bedford said. "I told him I expected it could last six months." Instead, the investigation was interrupted less than two months later, when FBI agents arrested the three men Oct. 8 as they were allegedly preparing to rob a Portland bank. Earlier, defense attorneys had hounded Davidson for failing to collect any incriminating evidence during 10 taped conversations with suspects Charles Barbee and Robert Berry. The attorneys suggested Davidson couldn't get recorded confessions because he was fingering the wrong guys to protect himself. Berry, 43, Barbee, 45, and Verne Jay Merrell, 51, are in their second trial, charged with bombing Valley offices of The Spokesman-Review, Planned Parenthood and U.S. Bank, and twice robbing the bank on April 1 and July 12, 1996. The first trial ended in April with a hung jury, after one juror refused to convict on the most serious charges. On Wednesday, Bedford testified about his first few meetings with Davidson - a former Coeur d'Alene military surplus dealer - in August 1996. Bedford said he offered Davidson, who since has entered the witness protection program, immunity from prosecution because it might be helpful - not because Davidson was a potential suspect. "I viewed it as an investigative tool ... to ensure us that he had no additional information he was reluctant to share with us," Bedford said. "He provided no additional information after it was offered." Davidson was trying to further win the trio's confidence, Bedford said, when the men went on a road trip in early October. FBI agents followed the suspects to Oregon, where they stole a van and tooled around the parking lot of another U.S. Bank branch before being arrested. During cross-examination from Merrell's attorney, Frank Conklin, Bedford and Davidson admitted they knew little about Merrell until his arrest. FBI agents didn't even know his last name, Bedford said. "We even had a quasi-undercover operation at a gun show with the sole purpose of trying to get a photograph of Mr. Merrell," Bedford said. "He never showed up." FBI agent Richard Conte later identified two hand-held, bulletproof shields seized from Berry's Sandpoint, Idaho, truck-repair shop. He told jurors he didn't know why a private citizen would own one. Conklin jumped at the chance to remind jurors that his client fears the government, was present at Randy Weaver's 1992 standoff and isn't like most people. "Are you familiar with the situation up on Ruby Ridge where Mrs. Weaver was shot?" Conklin snapped. "Would it have been illegal for her to use one if she'd had it?" Prosecutors expect to call 31 more witnesses before resting their case. Barbee, Berry and Merrell are charged with eight felonies and face up to life imprisonment without parole if convicted on all counts. Testimony from Bedford resumes this morning.

A former military surplus dealer told jurors Tuesday he recognized the Spokane Valley bombers' guns and sold them their clothes. He said suspect Robert Berry told him he painted a pistol black before one crime, while suspect Charles Barbee urged him to "watch the news" the day before another.

Months after the Spokane Valley bombings and robberies, suspect Charles Barbee boasted "we got those boogers twice" to a jailed Montana friend, a government informant testified Monday. Dennis Stucker, a Darby, Mont., farmer who had worked for AT&T; with Barbee in Florida, said Barbee visited him in jail last August and mouthed the admission through the visiting room's bulletproof glass. Barbee also drew a circle with his hands, indicating a bomb, and said he had "new leads" in Oregon for his "business," Stucker said.

A Newman Lake teenager may never walk again after he tumbled 45 feet off a cliff while rock climbing over the weekend at a popular Post Falls park. Jeremy Vetter, 18, injured his head, back and neck and may have severed his spinal cord in the fall at Q'emiln Park.