The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington • 3

Page B2 Tuesday, November 19, 2002 The Spokesman-Review REGION REGIONAL NEWS Briefly Witnesses recall car hitting girls I i 1 -L stans older sister, said she was in "total shock when she watched the car run over Ballou and Banka. I thought both of them were dead. I just took off running down the street to our house, said the 15-year-old Anderson, Tristan, 8, told jurors she jumped onto a big rock to keep from getting hit. I saw my sister and Brittany with blood coming out of them, Tristan said. Banka told the jury that she doesnt even remember going to the grassy area on that day.

She regained consciousness two weeks later while she was being treated in an intensive care unit. The only thing I remember-was the pain. My whole body was in pain, Banka said. Banka said doctors have told her that she may not regain a full range of motion in her shoulder after the accident. She said they have also told her shell need to take speech therapy classes.

Man tried for vehicular assault In case that Injured two girls By Kevin Blocker Stuff writer Neither Meagan Ballou nor Brittany Banka remembers being run over by a car in July. But their friends Thea Anderson and Tristan Ballou do. Meagan was curled up and just bounced from underneath the car, Anderson testified in court. Brittany, she just rolled out from under it and was lying on her side. All four girls took the stand Monday in the trial of Sean L.

Watson, whom prosecutors have charged with two counts of vehicular assault. The girls were playing on a grassy area at the edge of the Rogers High School parking lot on the afternoon of July 14 when a car jumped the sidewalk and careened into them. Deputy prosecutor Eugene Cruz said blood tests on Watson revealed Watson had smoked cigarettes laced with PCP before running over the girls. I i I I I -Ik sf to tell him they had PCP in them. Court records say Watsons drivers license was suspended, and he had been out of jail only a month when he allegedly ran over Banka, 15, and Ballou, 11.

Thea Anderson, Megan and Tri Liz Spokesman Review Sean Watson Is handcuffed In the Spokane County Courthouse after the first day of hfs trial on charges of vehicular assault. Bar members miffed judges names before Locke got would-be lawyers poll finished In his opening statement to jurors, however, public defense attorney Jay Ames said Watson shouldnt be found guilty because he didnt know the cigarettes were laced with the drug. Ames said a friend of Watsons gave him the cigarettes but neglected Locke. But the bar poll rating all 15 candidates is still being tabulated and isnt scheduled to be released until later this week. Billingslea said he didnt have time to wait because he is stepping down from his position Friday.

He also said Lockes busy end-of-the-year schedule made it impossible to wait for the polls results. Tom Cochran, a past Spokane County Bar Association president, and attorney for more than 30 years, criticized Billingslea for not waiting for the bar poll. I think its a tried-and-true evaluation process, Cochran said. Its a valid evaluation of who is qualified to do the job. Cochran sent Billingslea an e-mail saying he was offended by the disregarding of the bar poll.

By Kevin Blocker Staff writer Some local attorneys are concerned that Gov. Gary Locke doesnt have complete information about a group of judicial finalists who will succeed two retiring Spokane County Superior Court judges in January. For the last six years, Everett Billingslea, Lockes general counsel, has been responsible for compiling information about judicial candidates to Superior Court seats. Unlike in years past when there have been vacant seats to fill, however, Billingslea did not wait for the results of a Spokane County Bar Association poll that ranks the candidates on their ability to be a judge. Billingslea said he relied on interviews with a total of 15 candidates and their peers and then forwarded a list of five candidates to AT A GLANCE, Judge hopefuls The five finalists to succeed retiringjudges Michael Donohue and James Murphy are Valerie Jolicoeur, Mary Ann Moreno, Vance Peterson, Mike Pnce and Rocco Treppiedi.

Locke is scheduled to make the appointments next month, If the governor does not want local input, be honest and identify the process as merely a political appointment, local and firsthand information be damned, Cochran wrote. Billingslea responded to the criticism by saying he conducted a tremendous amount of research to come up with the five finalists. Im greatly offended by the suggestion that there was no local input, Billingslea said. I talked to local judges and attorneys, all of whom were qualified to pass on their knowledge of the candidates. Billingslea added that bar polls are not always the best measuring stick by which to gauge judicial candidates.

He suggested that the current Spokane County Bar Association poll is not as thorough and exhaustive as it has been in years past. But bar President Laurie Connelly, who also criticized Billingsleas approach, said the poll was conducted in the same manner as in past years. Kevin Blocker can be reached at (509) 459-5513 or by e-mail at kevlnbspokesman.com. windows had been stolen from a home site in the 4300 block of South Vista Court over the weekend, a sheriffs investigation revealed. Shoe and vehicle tracks were found at the alleged burglary site and were photographed as evidence, Galiiher, Phillips and Robert G.

Palomino, 42, were booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of first degree burglary, a felony charge. Galiiher pleaded guilty to seven counts of second-degree burglary in April 1999 for allegedly taking part in 20 construction-site burglaries in the Valley and southwest Spokane. Valley council to meet transition team Some of the interim city staff will be introduced to the elected Spokane Valley City Council at its meeting tonight. Employees of the Prothman hired to handle the transition to city government, will be on hand to talk about the work plan for the new city. Some City Council members will arrive early to meet informally with the interim staff members.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at Redwood Plaza, 11707 E. Sprague Ave. Other agenda items include: setting the rules of procedure for meetings; a presentation by Spokane Transit Authority; a discussion of administrative housekeeping details such as a mailing address, assigning office space, a sound system and letterhead; discussion about a phone system; a request for proposals for banking services for the city; and setting the location and time for the citys first official meeting. The City Council will be sworn into office on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

in a ceremony at the University High School gymnasium. The public is invited to attend. The councils first official meeting will be Nov. 26. The time and location are yet to be announced.

Rape investigators to search vehicle Detectives will begin today to comb for evidence in a vehicle that was stolen from a rape victim last week, said Lt. Scott Stephens of the Spokane Police Departments major crimes unit. Stephens also said there are indications the victim in Fridays attack had been targeted by her attacker. Police have released a photograph from a Tidymans grocery story surveillance camera showing a man they call a person of interest in the case. Stephens said he hoped to allay fears that the suspect was trying doors and windows to look for a crime of opportunity.

We have information that the suspect targeted this individual. For the victim, this is not comforting, but in the broader sense of public safety, there may be some comfort that this was not a random attack, Stephens said. The rape was reported Friday when a 30-year-old woman said a man wearing a gray ski mask, plaid flannel shirt and green cutoffs broke into her South Hill residence and attacked her at 8:15 a.m. The man was armed with a crowbar, the woman said. The attacker left with a shotgun from the house and drove off in the womans 2000 Ford Explorer.

The car was recovered later Friday at a Tidymans parking lot in the 100 block of S. McKinnon. Police said Monday the womans ATM card was used at least once before the account was closed. It is possible that someone tried to use it again at a cash machine in the grocery store where the car was recovered. Autopsy rules out foul play in death An autopsy has determined a man found dead outside the downtown public library on Sunday morning died of natural causes, police said.

Spokane police on Monday reported that the man his name and age have yet to be determined died from gastrointestinal bleeding because of cirrhosis of the liver. The man was found at about 8 Sunday morning next to a sidewalk bench. Police arrest suspect in October bank heist A 22-year-old Spokane man was arrested without incident at his home Monday afternoon and jailed as a suspect in a bank robbery last month. Spokane police say 22-year-old Brandon E. Hewitt, 407 E.

Crown, was booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree bank robbery. Police call Hewitt a suspect ip the Oct. 21 robbery of the Wells Fargo Bank branch inside a grocery store at 1616 Northwest Blvd. The robber displayed a handgun. From stdfl reports The person of Interest In the death of Kenneth Densmore the man found dead In Peoples Park.

Police seek person in photo with victim Spokane police on Monday released a photograph taken at a cash machine last summer on the last known date a possible murder victim used his ATM card. Police did not call the man in the photo a suspect in the death of Kenneth Densmore, but would like to talk to him, as he may be one of the last people to have seen Densmore alive. The 63-year-old Densmore 's body was discovered Oct. 24 in Peoples Park, an undeveloped area along Latah Creek west of downtown. Police at the time said it appeared Densmore died from homicidal violence.

I lis remains had been in a remote area in the park for some time. He was not a true transient, Lt. Scott Stephens of the major crimes 1 unit said. He had property, he had a car, he had an expensive mountain bike, a trailer and money in the bank. For some reason, he chose to camp by the river.

Densmore often used his bike to get around town, towing a distinctive trailer behind. Major crimes detective Kip Hollenbeck has retrieved several 1 photographs from cash machines showing Densmore and another man withdrawing money Aug. 20. The man in the photos is described as about 35 to 40 years old, 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-7, 170 to 180 pounds, balding, with glasses and distinctive tattoos on each arm. Lt.

Scott Stephens of the major crimes unit said Monday that i anyone with information is asked to call Secret Witness at 327-51 11, Crime Check at 456-2233 or the Police Department at 625-4100. r' Secret Witness is offering a $2,000 reward for information that solves the homicide. Sex offender, 17, wanted by police A high-risk sex offender is wanted by police after apparently providing them with a bogus address. Spokane police said Monday they are searching for Tyler Gardipee, a Level III registered sex offender. Gardipee, 17, was recently released after sentencings for a 1998 indecent liberties, with force, conviction involving a 7-year-old girl and a 2000 third-degree assault conviction in Lewis County.

He told police he was living at an address on West Sixth Avenue, but was not found to be living there when police checked. Police say Gardipee has a criminal record dating to when he was 8 years old and now has an arrest warrant out for failing to report his address, as is required of Level III sex offenders. Anyone with information on Gardipees whereabouts is asked to-call Crime Check at 456-2233. Convicted burglar jailed after stop A Spokane man who served time in prison for burglarizing construction sites was arrested Monday morning after a deputy found stolen windows in a van. Robert J.

Galiiher, 34, was a passenger in a van stopped on Carnahan Road by Spokane County Sheriffs Deputy Jeffrey Thurman Monday for allegedly having expired license tabs. The driver, Jill A. Phillips, 36, was cited for having a suspended 1 license. During a search of the van, Thurman found a wallet with checks that had been stolen from Custom Craftsman, the Sheriff Otlice said. Numerous vinyl-clad windows, worth $3,000, were also inside the van, invoices still attached.

The Racist apparently kills self in California jail Matt Williams name surfaced in the Hendrick disappearance in mid-1999 after Williams was arrested in California and charged with two murders. Lanpher said detectives investigating the Hendrick case didnt actively pursue Williams as a potential suspect because they couldnt place him in North Idaho at the time of the disappearance. Hendrick disappeared just a few days after Williams had called friends in Pullman and Coeur dAlene, attempting to locate Dan Martin, who lived in the Palouse and was active in AIDS prevention. Martin knew both Hendrick and Matt Williams. Williams and his brother pleaded guilty in September to firebombing three Sacramento, area synagogues and an abortion clinic.

Friends say Matt Williams was deeply involved in a white supremacy religion known as Christian Identity. The racist religion advocates violence to stop abortion and endorses killing homosexuals. Although not a suspect, his name came up in gay Ul students disappearance By Bill Morlin Staff writer A white supremacist, whose name surfaced in the mysterious disappearance of a University of Idaho student, apparently took his own life over the weekend. Benjamin Matthew Williams was found dead Sunday in a Shasta County Jail cell in Redding, Calif. Williams, a former UI student, apparently died from self-inflicted cuts to his arms and legs, authorities said.

He was found dead when he didnt respond to a call for breakfast at 6:30 a.m., said Redding police Sgt. Dan Kupsky. Williams, 34, was awaiting trial with his younger brother, James Williams, for the 1999 murders of a gay couple who lived in Happy Valley, Calif. Benjamin Williams, who was known as Matt Williams, attended UI at the same time as William Wil Hendrick. Hendrick, 25, who was gay, disappeared Jan.

10, 1999. A skull, now positively identified as Hendricks, was discovered by hunters Sept. 7 in a remote area near Moscow, Idaho. Authorities wont precisely identify the location but say it is southeast of Moscow on land owned by Potlatch Corp. A subsequent search of the area turned up a jawbone.

No other bones or clothing were discovered during extensive searches involving cadaver dogs. Dental records examined by Dr. Frank Morgan of Spokane led to the positive identification. The skull and jawbone have been sent to a Colorado laboratory for forensic examination, Moscow police Capt. Don Lanpher said Monday.

Moscow police, who initially investigated Hendricks disappearance, regard the case as a death under suspicious circumstances, Lanpher said. Latah County Sheriff Jeff Crouch said his department is treating the case as a homicide. Last week, the Lewiston Morning Tribune reported that police believe an acquaintance may have killed Hendrick. Teacher accused in molestation case can be reached at 5444 or by e-mail at billmspokesman.com. stays in jail Nine Mile Falls students and parents.

I John Craig may be contacted at(509) 459-5429 orbye-mail at johncspokesman.com. rVllIALLETTS LCHOCOLATOS Imagine the fin I Bill Morlin (509) 459 complaint against Schubert in recent years: that he allowed a student to rub his shoulders. Parker said he told Schubert he disapproved of the shoulder rubbing, but didnt view the incident with alarm. Stevens County Prosecutor Jerry Wetle said sheriffs detectives in that county are investigating the possibility that Schubert may have abused other students. But Wetle said he 'hasnt received any report, and no charges are pending in Stevens County.

If Schubert does post bail, he must stay out of Stevens County and the Nine Mile School District, Kristian-son ordered Monday. The judge specifically ordered Schubert, who lives in Spokane, to stay away from 3 fl GUTTER PROTECTION SYSTEM The First The Best, The 1 in Hontm Demonstration A Prfoe Quote SPOKANE GUTTER, INC. 922-4000 Bonded Insured SHOKARCloeOBO Suncrest special-education instructor fails to post bail By John Craig Staff writer NEWPORT, Wash. A Suncrest teacher accused of indecent liberties with a mentally handicapped Lakeside High School student remained in the Pend Oreille County Jail on Monday after a preliminary court appearance. Superior Court Judge Larry Kris-tianson set bail for 58-year-old Carl Schubert at $25,000, one-tenth of the amount Prosecutor Tom Metzger requested.

But Schubert failed to post the bond, which would require him to put up about $2,500, by Monday evening. Defense attorney Scott Staab stipulated that there was sufficient cause to hold Schubert, precluding Metzger from presenting evidence of the alleged crime. Metzger plans to file formal charges against Schubert before Thursday, when Schubert is scheduled to enter his plea. A special-education teacher, Schubert is suspected of having sex with a 19-year-old girl who has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old. The incident allegedly happened during a camping trip this summer to the Metaline Falls area in northern Pend Oreille County.

Although the trip was not an official activity of the Nine Mile Falls School District, the district allowed Schubert to use a school van. Superintendent Jaime Seaburg said Schubert has taken four or five of his students on a camping trip for the past three years. School officials suspended Schubert with pay Oct. 29 after a Stevens County sheriffs deputy advised them of allegations against the teacher. Schubert has been with the district, which includes portions of Stevens and Spokane counties, since 1993.

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