Appellate court rules feds can retry State Auditor Troy Kelley
A panel of judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal by departing State Auditor Troy Kelley, ruling federal prosecutors can retry him on several tax-related felony charges stemming from his defunct real-estate reconveyance business
The three judges unanimously rejected Kelley’s claim that retrying him on the tax charges would constitute double-jeopardy, or trying Kelley twice for the same crime.
The appeal stemmed from the sole verdict the jury was able to reach in Kelley’s trial last spring in Tacoma. The jury deadlocked on14 counts, including the key charges of theft, money laundering and tax evasion after a six-week trial.
On the sole count it could agree on, the jury acquitted Kelley of lying to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The defense argued that the jury must have believed Kelley in that instance, and that as a result five other tax-related allegations facing Kelley were not viable and should be dismissed. The appeals court, in a single paragraph ruling, disagreed and returned the case to U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton for trial on the tax counts.
The government has said it intends to retry Kelley on all of the charges, including theft and money-laundering counts that were not addressed in the appeal.
Kelley’s trial attorney, Angelo Calfo, said he would study the ruling before deciding on the next course of action.
Even before the verdict, Kelley had said he would not seek re-election. His term expires in January.
The government has alleged Kelley stole upward of $3 million from homebuyers during the pre-recession real-estate boom by failing to make refunds to clients of his now-shuttered real-estate reconveyance company, Post Closing Department.
— The Seattle Times
State changes status of several bird species
The state Fish and Wildlife Commission decided Monday to change the status of several bird species, including removing bald eagles and peregrine falcons from the state’s list of protected species.
Since DDT, a pesticide harmful to birds, was banned in the 1970s, bald eagle and peregrine falcon populations have recovered steadily, according to a news release.
The recovery of bald eagles has been called an Endangered Species Act success story. The species remains federally protected.
The commission also reduced the status of white pelicans from endangered to threatened. White pelicans, a rare sight in Skagit County, were seen in Padilla Bay this summer.
The commission increased the status of the marbled murrelet to endangered because of ongoing habitat loss, according to the release.
— Skagit Valley Herald
Santa isn’t the only one watching you this season — especially if you’re driving drunk
Beginning today, law enforcement agencies across the state will begin extra patrols aimed at getting drunk and otherwise impaired drivers off the roads throughout the holiday season.
The patrols are scheduled to run through New Year’s Day.
In Thurston County, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Tumwater and Yelm police departments, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Patrol are teaming up for the extra patrols, with the support of the Thurston County Target Zero Task Force.
“The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) funds these extra patrols because we want every family to enjoy the holidays with their loved ones,” Traffic Safety Commission director Darrin Grondel said in a news release. “Unfortunately, we are very aware that deadly traffic crashes can turn holiday dreams into nightmares.”
In recent years, the state has experienced an increase in traffic deaths involving DUI, especially among drivers who test positive for two or more drugs, or drugs and alcohol, Grondel said.
— The Olympian
