Thomas Clouse

A 10-year-old Colville boy pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to kill a classmate and tampering with a witness in a plot that prosecutors believe was thwarted by school officials. The boy was one of two fifth-graders arrested Feb. 7 after school officials discovered the boys trying to sneak a stolen gun and a knife into their school as part of a documented plan to kill fellow classmates.

A 10-year-old Colville boy pleaded guilty today to conspiring to kill a classmate and tampering with a witness.

Spokane developer Gregory D. Jeffreys has talked himself out of freedom, a judge ruled Monday. Citing his multiple violations of another judge’s order and a previously undisclosed threat made to a business associate, U.S. District Judge Rosanna Peterson ruled that Jeffreys must remain in jail during the months leading up to his January trial on charges that he defrauded millions of dollars from investors.

Spokane developer Gregory D. Jeffreys has talked himself out of freedom, a judge ruled today. Citing his multiple violations of another judge’s order and a previously undisclosed threat made to a business associate, U.S. District Judge Rosanna Peterson ruled that Jeffreys must remain in jail during the months leading up to his January trial

A woman suffered life-threatening stab wounds Sunday morning during a dispute with another woman outside a West Central four-plex in what a friend described as a love triangle.

Legal experts generally agree Washington state law prohibits opening fire on someone stealing your car. But as the investigation into last week’s fatal shooting of an auto thief in north Spokane continues and prosecutors prepare to decide whether the armed homeowner was justified, it’s clear numerous legal issues are at play.

A Spokane jury awarded $813,000 this week to a woman whose foot was amputated following the wrong diagnosis by a local physician. It was the second time a jury heard Darlene Turner’s medical malpractice suit against now-retired Dr. Nathan Stime. The first action, in 2008, was declared a mistrial after jurors made what a judge perceived as racist comments against the woman’s attorney, Mark Kamitomo.

The family of a woman charged with first-degree assault believes their daughter is being targeted by prosecutors because she is the niece of a suspected killer. Rhyllie L. Stoddard, 20, appeared Monday before Superior Court Judge James Triplet on allegations that she pointed a gun at the head of a teen who had stopped at her mobile home to help in the aftermath of a fight. “It’s not her fault. She just had five teeth knocked out. We are definitely being victimized,” said her mother, Annette Stoddard. “She’s never been in trouble.”

Spokane police detectives are trying to determine where two homicide suspects were on March 11 when Heather Cassel was shot and killed as she fled across the lawn of an apartment complex on Fort George Wright Drive. Detective Jeff Barrington believes one of the two men arrested is “not being completely honest” about his knowledge of the crime, according to court documents, and police are using search warrants to find answers.

Housing dozens of inmates arrested in connection with what police are calling a massive oxycodone distribution ring brings some logistical headaches, but also a financial benefit to the Spokane County Jail. Spokane County Sheriff’s Capt. John McGrath said the jail gets an economic boost because the county is able to charge federal officials $85 a day to house inmates, as well as extra money for extraordinary medical expenses.

Possible connections to someone he called a Mexican drug lord could thwart Gregory D. Jeffreys’ efforts to get out of jail. Jeffreys, a Spokane real estate developer, is awaiting trial on charges he defrauded millions from investors.

Heroin ring suspects associated with Charles R. Wallace, the man who shot two Spokane County sheriff’s deputies and later killed himself, are closing in on plea deals with federal prosecutors. Wallace, 41, was arrested in April 2012 and released a month later to attend drug rehabilitation. He left that rehab center, however, and a federal magistrate issued an arrest warrant.

One of four suspects tied to two brazen robberies, including at a South Hill McDonald’s restaurant, pleaded guilty Thursday in a deal that could net him three years in prison. Dwayne J. Tolbert, 22, pleaded guilty to seven counts of robbery and had several similar charges dismissed as part of a plea in which both Deputy Prosecutor Mark Cipolla and defense attorney Anna Nordtvedt agreed to recommend a three-year prison term.

A courtroom packed with attorneys and 21 of the 62 defendants tied to a massive Spokane-Los Angeles OxyContin distribution ring appeared in court Thursday as a federal judge tried to set guidelines for how the complex case will move forward. Defense attorneys said they still have no information from the government supporting charges against their clients, who were rounded up in dozens of raids on Feb. 28. As of last week, some 20 of the 62 defendants remained at large.

A courtroom packed with attorneys and 21 of the 62 defendants tied to a massive Oxycontin distribution ring between Spokane and Los Angeles appeared in court today as a federal judge tried to set guidelines for how the complex case will move forward.

Two homeless men have been charged in an attack on a third homeless man with the blunt end of a hatchet that broke his skull and vertebrae. John C. Hill, 54, and 48-year-old Dean L. Anders, who is a registered sex offender, both appeared Wednesday before Superior Court Judge James Triplet. Hill was ordered held on a $10,000 bond and Anders held on a $15,000 bond, both on the charge of first-degree assault.

Two homeless convicts have been charged with the attacking a third homeless man with the blunt end of a hatchet, causing a broken skull and broken vertebrae on a man who told investigators that he was attacked while trying to retrieve a plastic tarp.