In brief: German Consulate weighs in on exchange student’s death
MISSOULA – The German Consulate called for justice Wednesday after a homeowner fired four blasts from a shotgun into his garage, killing a 17-year-old exchange student who was inside.
The investigation into the killing of Diren Dede, of Hamburg, Germany, should make clear that it is illegal to kill an unarmed juvenile just because he was trespassing, said Julia Reinhardt, spokeswoman for the consulate in San Francisco.
“We consider what happened completely out of proportion to the probable risk,” Reinhardt said.
Dede’s father, Celal, arrived in Missoula on Tuesday night with a family friend to recover his son’s body.
The teen was studying at Missoula’s Big Sky High School and was to leave the U.S. after the school term ended in just a few weeks.
Wenatchee attorney gets nod
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed a Wenatchee attorney as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
Stanley Allen Bastian, 56, will fill a judgeship vacant since June 7, 2012, when Judge Edward Shea assumed senior status, a news release from Ninth Circuit said. One vacancy remains to be filled on the court.
Bastian has been the managing partner since 2012 at the law firm of Jeffers, Danielson, Sonn & Aylward, where his practice focuses on civil employment matters. He joined the firm in 1988. He has also worked as an assistant city attorney and criminal prosecutor for the Seattle city attorney’s office and was president of the State Bar Association from 2007 to 2008, among other positions.
Bastian was born in Seattle, raised in Portland and received his law degree from the University of Washington.
Court orders rape resentence
BILLINGS – The Montana Supreme Court has overturned a one-month sentence that was widely condemned as too lenient for a former high school teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old student.
The court ordered a new judge to resentence defendant Stacey Dean Rambold, who has been free since completing the previous term last fall.
Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito said that according to state sentencing laws, the decision means Rambold must serve a minimum of two years in prison.
The high court’s decision cited in part the actions of District Judge G. Todd Baugh, of Billings, who suggested the young victim shared responsibility for her rape.
Ceremony to honor lost miners
A ceremony honoring the victims of the 1972 Sunshine Mine disaster takes place at 11 a.m. Friday near Kellogg.
Ninety-one miners were lost in the fire, the second-deadliest mining accident in U.S. history. The fire led to the formation of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and other measures to improve safety for mine workers.
During Friday’s ceremony, local workers killed in more recent mining accidents will also be remembered.
The ceremony takes place at the Sunshine Miners’ Memorial, just off of Interstate 90 at Exit 54 (Big Creek).