Crime & Courts

A Tee Harbor man who was accused of feeding as much as 19,000 pounds of dog food to black bears over two seasons will avoid jail time, but he’ll have to pay a hefty fine and somehow help state biologists with their bear tracking or attractant mitigation efforts.

Arnie Hanger, 66-years old, appeared before Juneau District Court Judge Thomas Nave on Wednesday afternoon. He pled guilty and was immediately sentenced on a single consolidated charge of intentionally feeding bears during the summers of 2009 and 2010. Hanger was sentenced to ten days in jail with all ten days suspended. Twenty-five hundred dollars was suspended from a $5,000 fine, but there’s also $1,500 restitution that he must pay to the state for the potential euthanization of two collared bears. That’s $4,000 to pay, plus 80 hours of community work service, and two-years probation.

Hanger was initially charged with three misdemeanor counts of feeding game and one count of reckless endangerment stemming from two years of feeding dog food and birdseed to bears and coyotes in his yard. The remaining charges for feeding the coyotes and reckless endangerment are being dropped.

“All I can say is I appreciate you taking the time to deal with this,” Hanger said as he addressed his comments to Judge Nave. “Other than that, I have no comment.”

District Attorney Dave Brower compared the case and Wednesday’s sparsely attended court hearing to a recent case concerning the poached two black bears and a black wolf nicknamed Romeo.

“As far as fish and game goes and danger, this is a more egregious case,” said Brower. “It’s a more serious case.”

Defense attorney Kevin Fitzgerald described Hanger as a retired mechanical engineer who took up the hobby of photography and photographing bears.

“He is kind and gentle soul and he is a good man in every sense of the term,” said Fitzgerald during comments made over the phone.

But Judge Nave hoped that Hanger realized the consequences of his actions, habituating the bears to dog food and possibly causing them to lose their fear of people.

“Hopefully, you realize that what you were doing was making them dependent,” said Nave.

The community work service may be specifically tailored to Hanger’s case. Brower read a message from Department of Fish and Game’s Ryan Scott, the biologist everyone calls when it comes to bears in northern Southeast. Scott said he’d be willing to work with Hanger on a form of public service program focusing on improper storage of garbage, food, and other bear attractants.

“I believe there is a lot of credibility when there is person who is involved in something like this conveys a message to the people,” Scott wrote.

According to court documents, Alaska Wildlife Trooper Sargeant Matthew Dobson says he found 382 empty dog food bags in one room after executing a search warrant at Hanger’s home in May. Dobson explains that Hanger eventually admitted feeding as many as fifteen bears a year. Each of those bags of Atta Boy dog food was fifty pounds and Dobson says Hanger admitted feeding a bag a day from April until mid-November.

One of those bears was a sow that Hanger allegedly named ‘Mrs. White’ as early as six years ago. During a recent visit, ‘Mrs. White’ had two cubs in tow. Investigators claim they saw two lactating sows at Hanger’s residence, suggesting that another generation of bears have already been habituated to taking handouts.

Dobson notes several bear and human encounters in the area in his report to prosecutors. There was at least one accident between a bear and vehicle in Tee Harbor and two near misses. One nearby resident reportedly essentially becoming trapped in the crawl space of his house after two curious bears approached. They were not aggressive toward the homeowner, though.

A Juneau man who beat a 2-year old girl so severely that she suffered brain damage will spend the next fifteen years in prison.

24-year old Nicholas W. Kokotovich was sentenced in Juneau Superior Court Wednesday afternoon on an assault charge. The sentence includes a total of 20-years with 5-years suspended. That’s the maximum allowed under a plea and sentence agreement he made with prosecutors, although the judge expressed a temptation to throw out the agreement and impose a harsher sentence.

Kokotovich was arrested in June, 2010. That was almost a month after he and the girl’s mother Adrienne Hosiner took little Reina Stone to Bartlett Regional Hospital. Stone suffered severe head and face injuries, and was medivacked to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, police investigators recounted stories from Kokotovich that Reina apparently suffered injuries by jumping off a couch and landing on an end table. That supposedly happened while he was caring for the girl while Hosiner was at work. Then, Kokotovich says the toddler suffered additional injuries the following day by falling off a bed during a diaper change. Later, he concocted a new story that Reina’s beating was retribution after Kokotovich’s supposed falling-out from a Portland drug dealing organization. Finally, he admitted that he left Reina alone for a few hours, bought and consumed a gram of cocaine, came home and “snapped” when Reina became defiant about laying down for a nap. He told investigators about using an open hand to hit her on the side of her head, kicking her in the back, and then punching her with a closed fist so hard in the head that she was likely thrown against nearby dresser.

Investigators played a recording of an emotionally-charged telephone conversation between Kokotovich and Hosiner; He admitting hitting the girl and she pleading for an explanation why he did it.

Much of Wednesday’s hearing was used to explain graphic photographs of Reina and the injuries she suffered. Among those testifying was Dr. Naomi Sugar of the University of Washington School of Medicine who also spends much of her time at Harborview and Seattle Children’s Hospital. She detailed Reina’s nearly two-week long stay in Harborview’s Intensive Care Unit. Part of Reina’s skull was temporarily removed to relieve brain swelling. That swelling led to a lack of oxygen on the right side of the brain — essentially a stroke — and she also suffered retinal damage and multiple bruises thoughout the body and head. Because of the injuries’ severity and her rapid deterioriation following the beating, Dr. Sugar says “emergency room care at Bartlett Regional Hospital saved her life.”

Juneau pediatrician Dr. Marna Schwartz says Reina has apparently lost her left-side vision in both eyes, has little balance, suffers from possible bowel and bladder dysfunction stemming from the assault, and her speech and language development has regressed to that of a typical two-year old — although it has improved over the last year.

Reina today, as a four-year old, has lost function on the left side of her body and cannot stand or walk. She requires the 24-hour attention and care of her foster parents in Juneau. But she can talk, play, and crawls – or scoots — around using her right leg and arm. Prosecutors Wednesday played a video of an energetic Reina playing with investigators at the Juneau Police Department station lobby on Tuesday. Dr. Schwartz says Reina is currently undergoing occupational, physical, and speech therapy.

Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg was clearly moved and upset at the end of the day-long hearing – saying he wasn’t sure to “Cry or get angry. Angry because someone did this to a two-year old; Cry because of what she’s lost.” Pallenberg mused that roughly at the time that Kokotovich would be eligible for parole for a typical assault sentence, Reina should be in middle school, playing sports, learning about the world, mingling with friends, and on first dates with a boyfriend. Instead, she’ll likely be in a wheelchair, going to therapy and special education classes.

Pallenberg said he couldn’t understand this”, saying it was unusual and inexplicable. Reina was “hit not just once,” said Pallenberg, but Kokotovich “had beat the crap out of this child.”

Reina was within a “hairsbreadth” from being killed and Pallenberg says attempted murder would fit the crime, though the charge probably wouldn’t stand up in court. He contemplated throwing out the plea agreement and imposing time-to-serve longer than 15years, but he was concerned that court proceedings would continue to drag on for months. He also imposed 5-years probation and set restitution to be determined later.

The last words during made Wednesday’s nearly seven-hour hearing was Pallenberg to Hosiner, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Louis Menendez is the newest Superior Court Judge for Juneau.

Menendez took the oath on Friday afternoon as administered by Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Walter Carpeneti by videoconference from Anchorage.

Menendez was one of five people who originally applied for the seat being vacated by retiring Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins. Menendez was eventually selected by Governor Sean Parnell last May and he starts work on the bench on September 12.

According to information provided by the Juneau court system, roughly 30-percent of the cases handled by Menendez will likely be felony criminal cases, about 25-percent are divorces and dissolutions, and child support and custody cases. The rest is a mix of probate, general civil, child in need of aid (CINA), and delinquency cases.

Since 1995, Menendez has made his mark as a private defense attorney, sometimes taking on high profile cases. His application to the bench also notes spending each summer in the Naknek area defending fishermen ticketed during the Bristol Bay red salmon fishery. Menendez earned his law degree from University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco with graduate work at New York University. The start of his law career includes working as a federal public defender in Texas, in civil law in Juneau, and as a state prosecutor in various Alaska communities — interspersed with stints caring for family in Monterey, California and attending New York University Film School.

A public swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for September 30.

A Sitka judge wants another opinion on whether John Marvin, Jr. is competent to stand trial for the shooting of two Hoonah police officers last year.

Superior Court Judge David George heard a set of different diagnoses during a competency hearing in Juneau on Tuesday. Judge George says another exam would help preserve Marvin’s rights while protecting the record for a potential appeal in the case.

Dr. Lawrence Maile, clinical director at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage, says Marvin is “competent to stand trial and has the capacity to assist in his own defense.” Maile believes Marvin suffers from anti-social personality disorder and alcohol abuse. He believes that Marvin understands the charges alleged and the court process already underway.

Dr. Fred Wise, clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Washington, says Marvin suffers from a delusional disorder and possibly an additional disorder that may be organically-based, such as what might be brought on by a tumor or brain injury. Wise, who examined Marvin for his defense, says that he suffers from a form of thought disorganization that’s not easily faked. During exams, Marvin would question why he was in jail and talk about being a “High Royal” or an “innocent.” Wise’s notes from his interviews seem to echo Marvin’s outbursts made during his first appearances in court last year.

A third expert who testified during Tuesday’s hearing only examined Marvin on his culpability in the crime, not his competency to stand trial. Dr. David Sperbeck, who identified himself as chief of psychology at Northstar Hospital in Anchorage, says Marvin would likely be found “guilty, but mentally ill.” Sperbeck’s own conclusion included major elements of diagnosis from the previous two experts. He also explained that diagnosing a mentally ill defendant may be complicated by differences in environment. He compared the comfortable setting at A.P.I. against the hostile, noisy atmosphere at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. Sperbeck, who examined Marvin for the prosecution, says he found Marvin “responsive, evasive, and gamey” in answering questions. Sperbeck examined Marvin on his culpability in the crime, not his competency to stand trial.

Judge George asked Sperbeck to do a follow-up evaluation on Marvin’s competency.

The 46-year old Marvin is being charged with murder and weapons misconduct in connection with the shooting of Hoonah officers Tony Wallace and Matt Tokuoka on August 28, 2010. Responding officers say Marvin held them at bay for at least a day following the shooting.

A jury trial in the case had been scheduled for last December and was recently rescheduled for October 17. But that date could be pushed into next year with another examination.

A tearful Ryan West was arraigned in Juneau Superior Court yesterday (Thursday), where he pleaded not guilty to second degree murder in connection with the death of 19-year-old Gabriel Carte.

The 25-year-old West was indicted by a Juneau Grand Jury a week ago. Public Defender David Seid entered the plea on West’s behalf.

“I’d ask the court to accept a not guilty plea and we would request a jury trial,” Seid said.

On June 6th, West and Carte were riding in a truck that flipped over multiple times at Mile 35 Glacier Highway. Carte was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. West was treated for minor injuries. Juneau Police said alcohol and excessive speed were factors in the crash, but at the time of the preliminary investigation it wasn’t clear who was driving.

The grand jury indictment charges West “did knowingly engage in conduct that resulted in the death of [Carte] under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

District Attorney David Brower asked for bail to be set at 500-thousand dollars. He noted that West was already on probation stemming from an earlier case where a 19-year-old woman was seriously injured after being dragged by West’s truck.

Judge Phillip Pallenberg agreed.

“I would make the comment that the amount of the bail is high not only because of the nature of this offense, but because of the nature of the previous offense in that it involved a person who was very seriously injured as a result of the operation of Mr. West’s vehicle,” Pallenberg said.

Pallenberg set a two-week trial to begin December 5th. The case was originally assigned to Judge Patricia Collins, who’s now retired. It will instead be presided over by incoming Judge Louis Menendez.

Pressure bombs – plastic bottles filled with Drano, water and tinfoil – have been exploding around Juneau.

Police have received several calls in recent weeks about the homemade bombs found in various places; the remnants of one near the road on Dudley Street just last week. There’ve also been reports of explosions, then pieces of bottle and tinfoil found.

JPD spokeswoman Cindee Brown-Mills says the bombs apparently are easy to make.

“The acids in the Drano react with the tinfoil and cause a vapor so what you’re going to see looks like foggy stuff inside the bottle. And then pressures going to build up and expand the bottle and the bottle’s going to explode. It looks like it happens pretty fast in the video that I watched,” Brown-Mills says. “If they don’t shake it and just leave it and then somebody disturbs it that may cause it to start (blow up).”

Police say the pressure bombs can cause serious injury and even death. That’s due to the unpredictable nature of the explosive time frame and blast pressure, coupled with shrapnel.

Possible indications of the bomb are strips of metal foil inside a plastic soda or water bottle, or a cloudy buildup inside the bottle.

Anyone who finds such bottles should leave them alone and call police. JPD also would like information on the previous incidents. Call Juneau Police at 586-0600 or log onto juneaucrimeline.com.