In brief: Teenage girl accosted in Plaza restroom
A man is in the Spokane County Jail after he allegedly walked into the women’s restroom at the Spokane Transit Authority Plaza, peered into a stall being used by a 16-year-old and forced the door open, court records say.
After he was arrested, he asked the officer taking him to jail if he could watch porn on the officer’s in-car computer, according to court documents.
Ildefonso Lopez, 36, is being held in the Spokane County Jail on $15,000 bond on a charge of voyeurism.
The girl told police that she was inside the STA Plaza with a friend about 8 p.m. Thursday when Lopez approached them. She said he told them they were pretty and asked if they wanted to go to his house to party. They declined his offer.
She left to use the restroom and once inside the stall with her pants down she said she noticed Lopez peering at her through the stall door crack, according to court documents. She told police that he forced his way inside the stall and offered her drugs.
A witness inside the restroom heard the exchange and told police that she heard the girl telling Lopez to get out of the restroom.
Lopez reportedly told police that he thought the girl was interested in him and hoped to kiss her in the restroom and later have sex with her.
Video surveillance footage showed Lopez entering the women’s restroom, according to court documents.
Final arrest made in 2013 shooting
The final suspect in an attempted murder case from 2013 was arrested this week.
Stephen Edwards, 46, is in the Spokane County Jail facing two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one charge of felon in possession of a firearm.
Edwards and Ronnie T. Simms and Robert L. Rushing allegedly traded gunfire in two locations on Oct. 21, 2013. All three are reportedly members of the same gang, according to court records. Simms and Rushing were part of a group of 29 people indicted in federal court and arrested in March 2014 for alleged drug trafficking.
Witnesses told police that Rushing and Simms visited the Library Lounge inside the Quality Inn motel at 110 E. Fourth Ave. the night of the shooting. As they were leaving, Edwards allegedly fired several shots at the pair and Rushing fired back at Edwards, according to court documents.
The trio encountered each other again later that night and Rushing allegedly fired at Edwards’ car several times, according to court documents. Police discovered several bullet holes in the car. No one was wounded in the exchange of gunfire.
A gun with Edwards’ fingerprints on it was found near Fifth Avenue and Pine Street, where a witness reported seeing a man firing a gun. Police found seven .40-caliber bullet casings in the street at the location, according to court documents.
Edwards’ criminal history includes convictions for robbery, assault with a firearm, drug possession and lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14.
Courts must weigh ability to pay fines
OLYMPIA – Trial courts must determine whether poor defendants can pay the fines and fees in their sentences to make sure they can eventually discharge their debt and re-enter society, the state Supreme Court ruled this week.
The court sent the sentences in two cases back to the trial courts in Pierce County for review after the defendants in each said during separate appeals the judges never made an inquiry about whether they’d be able to pay the discretionary fees, also known as legal financial obligations. The high court didn’t remove the penalties; the justices just called for a rehearing.
Studies have shown that such fees can be disproportionately high for some minorities, drug defendants and in some smaller counties, the court said in its ruling.
In one case the court decided this week, a man convicted of a single count of second-degree assault faced penalties of more than $3,200 for a combination of fines, court fees, a charge for a DNA sample and extradition costs. In the other, a man convicted of assault and possession of a firearm faced a total of $2,300 in fines and fees. The fines and fees were recommended by prosecutors and neither objected at sentencing, but on appeal said the court never determined their ability to pay those assessments.
Idaho asks for GMO labeling policy
BOISE – Idaho lawmakers are requesting the federal government to ensure that all genetically modified food labels are voluntary.
The Senate passed the nonbinding resolution by voice vote Friday.
Republican Sen. Jim Rice from Caldwell told lawmakers that a patchwork of state labeling laws would be too complex for manufacturers and could raise food prices.
Rice said the Food and Drug Administration should make the rules standard across the county.
The House passed the request 41-24 last week.
Oregon voters defeated a measure last November that would have required labels for genetically modified food by roughly 800 votes.
Fish-consumption bill clears House
OLYMPIA – Legislation tied to the state’s efforts to update water quality standards is headed to the Senate after winning approval in the House.
Gov. Jay Inslee had requested the legislation aimed at tackling toxic pollution at its source.
The measure is part of larger state efforts to update water quality standards that are partly tied to how much fish people eat.
The bill does not give the Department of Ecology authority to ban toxic chemicals as was initially proposed. Instead, the Legislature will make that decision.
House Bill 1472 sponsored by Democrat Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon passed 63-35 on Wednesday.