Coquille PD suffers from a credibility problem – Part i

The City of Coquille and the Coquille Police Department will soon be contending with the consequences of long past as well as more recent failures of management, inadequate oversight and the negligent retention of substandard police officers. A federal case relating to the termination of former city staff member Jennifer Rose and alleging whistleblower retaliation is scheduling witness depositions beginning as early as January.

The lawsuit names, amongst others, City Finance Director Rick Hohnbaum as a defendant. Hohnbaum is no stranger to litigation and was approved by the city council despite a very checkered past including allegations of sexual harassment. It’s unclear what, if any, background checks were conducted by interim city manager Coquille Police Chief Scott Sanders but Hohnbaum’s last employer, the City of Gold Hill, spent more than $60,000 on legal fees related to his alleged behavior before deciding to terminate his employment.

Also named as a defendant is “Brady cop” Sergeant Doug Miller. Like Hohnbaum, Miller was separated from his previous employment with the Coos County Sheriff’s Office and the Coos County District Attorney added his name to a Brady list. For those who are unaware, a Brady list is maintained by prosecutors of officers or public personnel who may have damaged their credibility and therefore be unable to provide reliable or unimpeachable testimony at trial.

In December depositions will begin in the federal lawsuit filed on behalf of Nicholas McGuffin whose 2011 manslaughter conviction for the death of his high school girlfriend Leah Freeman was overturned after serving nine and a half years of a ten-year sentence. More on this in the future but the gist of the lawsuit seeks to establish a pattern of corruption and or incompetence amongst all the investigating agencies and several named police officers involved in the case, including another Brady list inductee, former deputy Kip Oswald.

What all this brings to focus is just how fragile justice and criminal convictions really are. It only takes one bad apple, one unethical or incompetent or dishonest police officer and a canny defense lawyer with access to Google to throw an entire case.

A Brady listing is often cause for termination of a police officer. When former Coquille PD officer James Bryant was arrested for supplying alcohol to a minor six months of arrests and convictions he was involved in were overturned.

Kory Sturgess, a Coquille High School math teacher arrested in early October for possession of child pornography may be an excellent demonstration of the potential danger a compromised police officer might have on the outcome of a prosecution. One of the officers involved in the investigation and arrest of Sturgess is Clayton Makinson, a four-year veteran of the CPD and the city’s current K-9 officer. Based upon a complaint filed with the DPSST (Department of Public Safety Standards and Training) and court transcripts related to custody matters and the dissolution of his marriage Makinson has been accused of stalking his ex-wife, Jessica DeSimone and has admitted to grabbing her arm causing her to fall to the ground in front of her son and causing damage that now requires corrective surgery.

Additionally, according to transcripts DeSimone alleges that Makinson coerced or intimidated her to engage in online sex work to bring in extra money and allegedly is a frequent visitor to adult websites.

In the process of reporting the assault to the Oregon State Police, an investigation was launched by Oregon DHS Child Welfare. The State found that Makinson physically abused his stepson.

Makinson has a right to appeal this finding but is still obligated to notify the city according to the city’s policy and procedures manual. Makinson chose not to reply to an email sent requesting comment on these allegations, rather he had his divorce attorney Dan Thenell contact me. Thenell hasn’t provided a comment or denied the allegations either. The email exchange is posted in the sidebar.

Using online adult porn sites is not a crime but pushing someone into commercial sex acts who is not a willing participant is technically sex trafficking. So here we have an officer who has admitted to at least one incidence of domestic violence, has been found by the State of Oregon to have abused a child and has unresolved allegations of stalking taking responsibility for investigating someone accused of sex crimes. Any good defense attorney will be just as a capable as I am of digging into public records and with a few subpoenas will make short work of police officers testifying against their client.

This brings us back to oversight and who is responsible for setting such low expectations of our paid administrators and law enforcement. Harkening back to the era of Chief Mike Reaves, largely responsible for the debacle surrounding the miserable handling of the murder of Leah Freeman and the dozens of complaints hurled against both Reaves and Officer James Bryant the city council was unmoved defaulting to the guidance of the city manager, Terence O’Connor. O’Connor’s approach was basically to ignore the public and simply ride out the storm until people just gave up.

Bryant, well known for his excessive use of force cost the city an undisclosed settlement when he turned Carl Foster into a quadriplegic. It can be argued that Reaves’ failure to work the Freeman case competently, (or at all for that matter), will likely cost the city as well. So why is the city repeating the same behavior again and again?

We have only touched the surface here regarding problems at Coquille City Hall. This is part one of an ongoing series investigating our city administration and law enforcement.