Zane Sparling

1 week ago | oregonlive.com | Zane Sparling

A Multnomah County judge weighed a grim set of facts Friday as he mulled the prison sentence for a drunken driver who drove the wrong way on Interstate 5 three years ago, killing another motorist.  Defense attorneys beseeched Judge Bryan Francesconi to impose the minimum 1½-year punishment — citing the unspeakable physical torture inflicted on the driver, Amr Elzagh, when he was jailed in Egypt’s notorious Tora prison for 20 months during the Arab Spring protests in 2012.

2 weeks ago | oregonlive.com | Zane Sparling |Zaeem Shaikh

A chaotic scene broke out well before dark Saturday as hundreds of black-clad protesters clashed with federal officers at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Portland’s South Waterfront. Federal officers clad in tactical gear deployed smoke, tear gas, flash grenades and other projectiles as the restive crowd of demonstrators hurled water bottles and fireworks in return.

2 weeks ago | oregonlive.com | Zane Sparling

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has named Colleen F. Gilmartin the next judge of the Clackamas County Circuit Court. Gilmartin, 49, is a familiar face on the bench. She has served as a temporary judge in Clackamas County since 2018, where she leads the juvenile court, community court and presides over civil commitment cases.

2 weeks ago | chronline.com | Zane Sparling

A man who was formerly serving a lifetime sentence for murdering his 15-month-old daughter has struck a new plea deal that lets him out of custody in 1½ more years. Darian McWoods has already served 8½ years behind bars because a Multnomah County jury found him guilty of murder by abuse in 2018. But the case became a legal stain in 2022, when appellate judges threw out his lifetime sentence — determining that prosecutors had excluded two Black people from the jury because of their race.

2 weeks ago | oregonlive.com | Zane Sparling

Oregon City police arrested a local man Thursday on suspicion of intentionally setting fire to the shuttered Blue Heron paper mill built on the roaring riverbanks just off Willamette Falls. Christian G. Dukes, 21, was lodged in the Clackamas County Jail on suspicion of second-degree arson, according to booking records. He has not yet been arraigned or formally charged in court. The former site of Blue Heron Paper Company has been permanently closed since 2011, when the mill went bankrupt.