Columbia County Judge Sets "Date Certain" After Victim Invokes Right to a Speedy Trial

A Columbia County circuit court judge has set a "date certain" for the trial of a man who allegedly sodomized a young boy after OCVLC pro bono attorney Lillian Salminen invoked the victim's right to a speedy trial.

The trial, which is set to begin on Jan. 24, 2012, has been scheduled to take place five times since the defendant was indicted in 2009 but has been reset for various reasons.

The judge told Salminen and attorneys for the State and the defendant that "The Court has had to bump other cases that are nearly as old as [this case], and we have done so to get this case scheduled in a timely manner given the circumstances. There will not be any further resets."    

The "circumstances" cited by Salminen in her motion and a subsequent letter to the Court included the facts that the victim, who was five and six years old when the crimes alleged in the indictment occurred, is now nine and he and his family need to get the trial behind him. Under Oregon statutory law, victims have the right to have the trial of their cases proceed with "all practicable speed."

Salminen, who has been doing pro bono work for the center since October 3, 2011, previously worked on child-protection issues as an assistant attorney general in Arizona.