Matt Miller

The next hearing in a case of three Arksansas teenagers accused of murdering a young Juneau man is not scheduled for another two months.

Arkansas court records indicate that a December 12th hearing has been scheduled for motions in the case.

Sixteen year old Timothy Tyler Norwood, 16-year old Clinton Lavon Ross, and 17-year old Richard Shelby Whybark have each been charged with second degree murder. They’re accused of beating 19-year old Kevin Thornton of Juneau to death last July in the Malvern, Arkansas-area.

Attorneys for the boys say the cases should be split up and proceedings should either continue in juvenile court or be dismissed. But — in their response — prosecutors argued against severing the cases between the three remaining defendants. They also argued against dismissal or transfer of the teenagers to juvenile court and maintained that their prosecution is still constitutional under Arkansas law.

Newly-elected school board members Sally Saddler and Sean O’Brien were sworn in at their meeting Tuesday night. School District spokeswoman Kristin Bartlett says the board re-elected Saddler as President, Andi Story as Vice President, and Kim Poole was elected Clerk of the Board.

Budget Committee members for the next budget cycle for fiscal year 2013 were also approved. New members are Brian Holst and Bill Martin. They join continuing members Rebecca Braun, Laurie Berg, Laird Jones, Richard Monkman and Mark Smith.

A former Juneau attorney and judge who recently passed away had played an early role in keeping the Capitol in Juneau and upholding the rights of Alaskans in pivotal cases.

Robert Boochever passed away Oct. 9, 2011 at the age of 94.

Robert Boochever was a former New York resident and Army Captain who met his future wife, Army nurse Connie Maddox, while serving in Newfoundland. With his Cornell law degree already in hand before World War II, he started work in Juneau as an assistant U.S. Attorney, a federal prosecutor in a small town during territorial days. After roughly a year, he went into private practice, remaining with the same law firm in Juneau — Faulkner, Banfield, Boochever, and Doogan — for 25 years.

Boochever was active in a variety of local and statewide professional, civic, and community activities, ranging from the consolidation of the City and Borough of Juneau governments to drafting of a comprehensive plan, chairman of the first planning commission, even helping to create a road for a new ski area. Some of the various other organizations he participated in were the Boy Scouts (even though he had no sons), Explorer’s Club, St. Ann’s Hospital board, and the Juneau chapter of the American Red Cross.

“When my mom and dad first came to Juneau, there was just a whole group of young energetic people moving into the area,” said daughter Barbara Lindh. “They all worked really hard to make Juneau a vibrant community.”

Lindh says one especially important cause for her dad was making sure that the capital remained in Juneau. That included a debate with Representative Earl Hillstrand and some of the countless cases he advocated as a lawyer. He argued against an improperly-drafted referendum calling for a constitutional convention and against a citizen’s initiative that would have moved the capital.

“He was so, so disappointed. He just couldn’t believe it,” remembered Lindh when her dad was contacted about the Alaska Supreme Court’s decision in that case.

Boochever was named to the Alaska Supreme Court by Governor Bill Egan in 1972, although he initially applied to be one of the Court’s first justices shortly after Statehood.

He also had a hand in pivotal cases as a jurist. Alaska Supreme Court Justice Craig Stowers, who clerked for Boochever 25 years ago, suggests his work on the Alaska Supreme Court may be more notable than his later work on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Way back then, they were addressing issues of first impression even more frequently than we are today,” said Stowers. “Many of his decisions that he authored, I think, have really stood the test of time and have made a huge contribution to the law in Alaska, and the rights that people enjoy and just the way business is conducted on a day-by-day basis.”

For example, Boochever wrote the concurrence opinion in Ravin, the precedent-setting case on Alaskans’ right to privacy in the home.

Boochever also wrote the opinion in the Aguchak case in which a Scammon Bay couple were denied their due process rights. A department store filed a small claims action over an unpaid bill for a snowmachine and freezer in Anchorage, rather than in the rural court district in which the couple resided.

There are also the Glass opinions. Those are the basis for why officers now must always apply for a warrant from a judge before they record your conversations as evidence in a criminal case.

“I think my dad exemplified what the law and the judicial system should be,” said Lindh.

Then in 1980, President Carter named Boochever to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The largest federal appeals court received 13-percent of its cases from Alaska even though, until Boochever, no Alaskan sat as a judge on the panel.

Boochever has been variously called a gentleman with a warm heart, brilliant, meticulous, and demanding – at least while he was a judge when he frequently asked probing questions.

There are also untold young attorneys in the state who benefited from his mentorship, like Stowers who talked about his experience last week.

In 1986, about the same time that Stowers worked for him as a clerk in Juneau, Boochever began the move to Pasadena, California and was named senior judge on the appeals court – a designation that usually entails a reduced case load.

Boochever’s wife Connie was an advocate for the arts in Alaska, and he wrote poetry and told stories. He was also a tennis player, avid fishermen, bird viewer, and outdoorsman.

Boochever is survived by his four daughters which have remained in Alaska.

“To make the best of it, he just took us out like we were sons,” said Lindh as she described some of the fly-fishing and other family outdoor excursions.

Boochever’s daughters include an art teacher, a music and literature teacher, ski instructor, and public relations consultant. And then there are eleven grandchildren — including Olympic skier Hilary Lindh – and three great-grandchildren.

Boochever’s family says he passed away peacefully October 9th at his home in Pasadena. They had just celebrated his 94th birthday several days earlier.
In addition to any family memorial services, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals also has tentative plans to honor Judge Robert Boochever.

The Alaska Marine Highway System says the engines being used in their two fast ferries are defective and builders of the ships knew it when they delivered the ships only six years ago. But the ferries’ builders say it’s not their fault, and they shouldn’t be obligated to replace the engines when the warranty doesn’t cover it.

Judge Philip Pallenberg enters the courtroom lugging a stack of files and documents easily a foot high. He’s about to get handed a few more accordian folders that will extend that by several more inches.

“I think the state fired the opening salvo in this naval battle,” said Pallenberg. “So, I think the state should go first.”

October 7th’s skirmish in Juneau Superior Court was over the engines installed in the state’s fast ferries Fairweather and Chenega, relatively new ships with diesel-powered jet drives that push the catamarans at a nice 32-knot clip. That’s about twice the speed of the ferry system’s standard mono hulls.

State attorney Dana Burke is leading the attack for the ferry system. But he runs out of time during oral arguments to carefully cite excerpts of contract documents and internal memos. Burke says manufacturers of the fast ferries knew the engines were defective, almost as soon as they were installed. He said they breached warranties that called for repairs and – if necessary – replacement of the engines. For both ships, all eight engines have been valued at $20 million.

“And we cannot wait,” said Burke. He said both the Fairweather and Chenega are in danger of being decertified from passenger service in the very near future.

Burke wants the ship and engine builders’ liability extended to the engines’ defects, especially when they admitted to using the wrong kind of coolant (that accelerated corrosion in the engines).

Burke said that MTU instructed the state to stop using Power Cool 3000 because it might degrade a layer of molybdenum in the crank case cylinder bores.

David McMahon representing Robert Derecktor Incorporated said the state was not entitled to any more rights after expiration of a standard year-and-a-half warranty.

“These two vessels have been operated on an uninterrupted basis since they went into operation,” said Burke.

But Derecktor Shipyard is only one of the parties in the state’s lawsuit. The state’s real target is MTU Friedrichshafen and MTU Detroit Diesel, the German company that built the engines and the American company that did the subsequent repairs.

Jon Dawson, who has already been prepared for a response, said they already have a potential repair of an interstitial ring that they’ve been trying to install.

“Scare mongering and hyperbole aside, the principle issue in this case involves only one component of these engines: the engine block,” said Dawson.

Dawson said there are clear factual issues at what caused the faster-than-expected deteroriation; instead of the coolant – perhaps the Alaska environment, improper maintanence by ferry crews, even excessive vibration caused by a misaligned installation by the shipyard.

“You can’t wave a wand and resolve this wear issue when you don’t know what’s causing it,” said Dawson.

Dawson also says the engine warranty was assigned to Derecktor – the general contractor, not the final buyer of the vessels, or in this case, the state ferry system. And it did not include replacement of the entire engine, beyond the engine block.

But the plantiffs always have the last word in any courtroom argument.

“Something’s wrong with these engines. They’re lemons,” said Burke. “These were defective beyond delivery and someone is responsible.”

October 7th’s hour-and-twenty minute oral arguments focused not on any factual disputes, but primarily arcane and esoteric interpretations of liability and warranty law. It will be sometime before Judge Philip Pallenberg issues an opinion.