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December 30, 2024
The Oregon Criminal Justice Truth Project wrote a letter to Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Melvin Oden-Orr in response to an eleventh-hour effort by outgoing District Attorney Mike Schmidt to reduce the sentences of seven defendants. The letter asserts the district attorney failed to provide lawful notice to the victims of crime and seeks a delay in the proceedings.
December 29, 2024
OCJTP in the news
December 13, 2024
The Oregon Criminal Justice Truth Project testified to the Oregon Public Defense Commission asserting that there are adequate funds to represent Oregon’s indigent defendants, and the so-called crisis represents a work slowdown by some offices.
December 30, 2024
OCJTP notches big win for crime victims and deals blow to the integrity of Multnomah County DA’s Justice Integrity Unit
On December 30, 2024, Judge Melvin Oden-Orr found that the Multnomah County DA’s Justice Integrity Unit failed to adequately notice crime victims in several key cases. Since 2022, the Unit has reduced or modified hundreds of sentences and convictions after the fact. Two cases in particular were impacted by today’s ruling. In the first, the outgoing DA sought to reduce a sentence for an offender who was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering a 76-year old woman. In the second, the DA sought to change an assault charge to an attempted assault in a case in which the offender used a mallet handle in a random attack on a community college student. The DA’s office must now properly notify the victims, at least 30 days before the hearing.