Crime & Courts

Alaska Supreme Court Justice Dana Fabe has been selected by her peers as chief justice.

Fabe follows Chief Justice Walter L. Carpeneti, of Juneau, whose three-year term expires June 30th.

She was the first woman appointed to the state Supreme Court and has served twice as Chief Justice. A justice may serve more than one three-year term as Chief, but not consecutive terms. Justice Jay Rabinowitz served four terms as head of the court.

The Chief Justice is administrative head of the judicial branch of government, provides policy direction for all courts statewide, and appoints presiding judges for all judicial districts.

The Chief Justice is selected from among the Supreme Court justices by majority vote.

Christen takes oath of office
Former Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen has been seated on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Christen was sworn into office on Wednesday by Senior Circuit Court Judge Andrew Kleinfeld, also an Alaskan.

She was nominated a year ago by President Obama to fill the seat left vacant by Kleinfeld’s retirement. The U.S. Senate confirmed Christen’s nomination in December.

The Ninth Circuit Court is headquartered in San Francisco and has jurisdiction over nine U.S. district courts, including Alaska.

5/31/12 3:30 update:

The Sitka man accused of setting fire to a business in Juneau’s Auke Bay Harbor parking lot last night (Wednesday) was arraigned in Juneau District Court this afternoon (Thursday).

Judge Keith Levy set James Lee Jesperson’s bail at $500-thousand dollars cash.

Assistant District Attorney Angie Kemp argued that Jesperson poses a danger to the community, based partly on a 1991 attempted murder conviction in California, for which he served eight years in prison.

Juneau Police say Jesperson broke a window and started a fire inside Brick’s Electronics shortly before midnight. Responding officers were able to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher. A person living in the apartment above the store got out without injury.

During today’s arraignment hearing Kemp said Jesperson and his girlfriend made threats against Brick’s owners and employees prior to the alleged arson.

Levy appointed a public defender to represent Jesperson, who said he lives on his boat and is on disability.

A preliminary hearing was set for June 8th, unless a grand jury returns an indictment.

Original story:

A Sitka man has been arrested and charged with arson in Juneau after allegedly setting fire to an Auke Bay Harbor business late last night (Wednesday).

Juneau Police responded to a report of breaking glass at the harbor just before midnight. Officers found a fire burning inside the business and were able to put it out with an extinguisher. One person inside the building was able to get out without injury.

A witness reported seeing a man heading down to the harbor shortly after the fire started.

Officers arrested 53-year-old Sitka resident James Lee Jesperson on a fishing boat. He was allegedly intoxicated at the time. Jesperson is being held at Lemon Creek Correctional Center on no bail.

A police press release did not name the business allegedly set on fire, or how much damage was caused by the blaze.

Juneau police report three people were arrested in connection with an early morning burglary at a downtown liquor store.

The alarm went off before 4 o’clock Wednesday morning at Kenny’s Liquor Store. Officers say they found broken glass from the front door, but no one was seen inside.

A store employee arrived and reviewed surveillance footage which allegedly showed four people break out the glass, enter the store, and leave with several items.

A few minutes later, police say they received a tip about four people drinking alcohol at Cope Park.

Three people were arrested and charged with either criminal mischief or burglary. They include 22-year old Clifford Brown, 25-year old Derek Totemoff, and 18-year old Vivian Wright.

Police did not specify whether a fourth person was actually involved in the case or if charges would be filed against that person, but they say the investigation continues

An Arkansas teenager accused of second-degree murder of a Juneau man has been released on $40,000 bond.

Timothy Norwood, 17, is one of three teens charged with the death of 19-year-old Kevin Thornton of Juneau. Norwood is the second teen in the case to be released to his parents, months after being arrested and held at an Arkansas juvenile correctional facility.

Bond for Richard Whybark, 18, was set at $40,000 in December and posted in February when he was released to his father. At that time, the judge indicated Norwood and Clinton Ross, 17, also would be eligible for release at some point. No notice has been given as to when Ross might be released.

The court is considering motions to transfer the case from adult to juvenile court and try each boy separately.

Thornton was visiting Malvern, Ark. in July 2011, when he was assaulted while walking with a friend down a country road. He died a week later of his injuries.

Sentencing is planned for September for a Juneau man who eluded police officers for several months until he was caught and arrested with what appeared to be a bag of drugs in his mouth.

The 35-year sentence is the absolute maximum — it could be less — that would be handed down for 32-year old Rorie Christopher Miller. And it wouldn’t be just for one charge. It’d be for several.

Miller changed his plea to guilty in Juneau Superior Court on Tuesday on evidence tampering and drug possession charges. One of those pending drug charges stemmed from the sale of two oxycontin pills to an undercover buyer behind Glacier Cinemas. The last-minute change of plea averted a trial that was to get underway this week.

Other charges — including for perjury — were dropped as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. It included revocation of Miller’s probation from an earlier case that included robbery and weapons charges. Miller had walked away from a half-way house and broke off contact with his probation officer.

Miller had eluded office for several months in early 2010 which led Juneau Police to believe that friends were helping to hide him.

Miller was taken in custody in July of 2010 near Dzantiki Heeni Middle School after a foot chase that ended with the firing of a taser. Emergency medical technicians were dispatched to the scene to remove the taser barbs and what appeared to be a packet or baggies lodged in his throat. Those baggies were later determined to contain heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana.

The Alaska Peace Officers Association annual crime conference is underway in Juneau this week.

Steve Hall, a lieutenant with the Alaska Wildlife Troopers, is also president of the Capital City chapter of the APOA. He says 120 officers from around the state are in Juneau through the conference’s end on Friday. Most of the events are at Centennial Hall.

Some of the instructional sessions range from outdoor crime scene photography and emergency communications to computer forensics and cyber-bullying.

One of the classes we peeked in on Tuesday was a training session on Outdoor Crime Scene Photography and Evidence Collection. It covered everything from proper camera operation for getting evidence-quality photographs to using grey paint to highlight snow prints, and using dental stone or sulfur cement for making casts of foot or tire impressions in the snow.

We talked to the instructor, Jim Wolfe, formerly of the state crime lab and now a traveling trainer for the Alaska Police Standards Council. He had just given an assignment to his students. It turned out to be our first interview this year conducted completely in the dark. The ballroom’s lights were completely turned off as Wolfe challenged his students to take pictures of evidence markers scattered throughout the floor. The only light came from the back panel of an officer’s seemingly malfunctioning camera and the display of our field recorder, which Wolfe refers to as our ‘rig.’