Lewis County Sirens.com

A 1994 Pontiac Grand Am was extinguished after its unconscious driver was dragged to safety near Vader. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Patrol

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A motorist traveling alone on a dark, desolate highway in south Lewis County overnight was pulled unconscious from his wrecked and burning car by passersby who happened upon the scene.

The 56-year-old man from Vader was rushed by helicopter to a Seattle hospital with serious injuries.

Aid and troopers were called about 12:20 a.m. to the site, on state Route 506 about three miles west of Vader.

Cowlitz-Lewis Fire District 20 Chief Richard Underdahl said when crews arrived, the Pontiac Grand Am had slammed into a tree and was fully engulfed in flames.

“Bystanders had removed the driver from the vehicle and dragged him to safety,” Underdahl said.

Earl L. Crawford is listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center this morning.

According to responders, Crawford was westbound and traveling fast through a sweeping left curve before the collision. The Washington State Patrol reports speed was a factor.

The fire chief said he believed the patient didn’t sustain any burns but he had serious facial injuries.

The area is roughly a mile west of Brim Creek Road on the way to Ryderwood, according to Underdahl.

Underdahl said if not for the civilian rescuers, Crawford certainly would have perished.

“One trooper said, he is so lucky someone was on this road; during the time we were there, not one car drove up,” he said. “That road is not well traveled.”

The scene on state Route 506 west of Vader this morning. / Courtesy photo by Tiffany Pannkuk

Ronald Brady is directed to a seat in front of Judge James Lawler yesterday afternoon.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Ronald A. Brady was back in Lewis County briefly, in the midst of his prison term for shooting an unarmed suspected burglar outside his Onalaska house three years ago.

Brady lost his appeal of his second-degree manslaughter conviction and prosecutors had him transported to Chehalis yesterday in connection with collecting $96, the state’s cost of responding to his appeal.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh said Brady didn’t sign the paperwork or respond to any correspondence about it sent to him so she had him brought before a judge.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler asked Brady about his objection, when he indicated he didn’t want to sign anything without consulting an attorney.

“I’m not a lawyer and I have no idea if I’ve given up any rights unless I check,” Brady said.

The brief interaction took place at 4 p.m., when a handful of newly arrested individuals were making their first appearance before a judge. Defense attorney Brian Gerhart who was there to represent them, consulted briefly with Brady inside the courtroom ahead of time.

Brady indicated he has contacted another attorney about another issue on the appeal.

Judge Lawler said he noted the objection, and signed the order to amend the judgement and sentence.

The amount was added to his $1,000 fine and $1,147 in other fees already imposed.

The 60-year-old was convicted by a jury in the summer of 2011 in the death of 56-year-old Thomas McKenzie of Morton. He was given a sentence of five years and three months.

The case generated strong opinions on both sides. Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield didn’t arrest Brady, saying he thought the shooting was justified. When prosecutors subsequently filed charges, they argued the act was intentional and premeditated.

Brady appealed on several grounds, including contending the trial court erred when it refused to allow testimony to prove McKenzie and his wife were at his property to steal and didn’t allow the jury to consider a right to resist the commission of a felony.

The appeals court said the only crime being committed at the time he opened fire with a .22 rifle was criminal trespass.

The panel of three judges this past April upheld the conviction and this fall, the Washington Supreme Court denied his petition for review.

The Onalaska man is housed at Cedar Creek Corrections Center, a minimum security facility near Littlerock.

•••

For background, read “Breaking news: Onalaska man gets five years for shooting suspected burglar” from Wednesday July 6 2011, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Packwood man awaiting trial for allegedly forcing his young woman friend up a logging road and then dragging her out of the Glenoma grocery while armed with a machete this summer will be seeing the psychiatrists again before his case can proceed.

Zachery H. Bynum

Zachery H. Bynum, 41, was arrested and charged in July but his lawyer said his mental stability was in question so he was evaluated by doctors at Western State Hospital before he could be arraigned.

He was found to be competent enough to understand his court proceedings, his lawyer David Arcuri said today.

However, Arcuri told a judge a today, he has concerns once more and asked for Bynum’s competency to be evaluated again.

It’s based upon what occurred when he visited his client in the jail yesterday, Arcuri said, but didn’t offer any detail.

Bynum was arrested at gunpoint at the end of a police pursuit on July 16 after he allegedly forced a 22-year-old Morton woman to flee a deputy in her truck. Court documents state the events of that day came after she met with Bynum to tell him she could not see him any more.

He is charged with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault and other offenses.

This summer, when Bynum was first to go before a judge, he refused. His first lawyer told a judge Bynum had significant mental issues.

The next time he was in court, when Arcuri requested his client meet with experts at the state mental hospital, he vigorously disagreed with the plan and tried to fire Arcuri.

A judge signed an order today to have Bynum evaluated again and cancelled the scheduled trial.
•••

For background, read “Packwood kidnapping suspect heads to mental hospital” from Sunday July 28, 2013, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Winlock man convicted last year following his identification through  DNA as the prime suspect in a previously unsolved sexual assault in a campground restroom of little girl is asking a judge if he may withdraw his guilty plea.

Reginald L. Juntunen, now 25, was sent to prison a year ago for 25 years to life after making a deal with prosecutors his new attorney says was not fair.

Reginald L. Juntunen

Seattle-based defense lawyer Mitch Harrison said the request comes about based mostly on the inclusion of the so-called aggravating factor, that the offense was predatory.

“The aggravator is really meant for the worst of the worst, and Reggie, he’s not that,” Harrison said this afternoon.

Harrison was in Lewis County Superior Court today to set a date for the hearing. It is scheduled for Jan. 31 in front of Judge Richard Brosey.

Juntunen was enrolled in Lewis County Drug Court when he was charged last summer. He pleaded guilty to first-degree child molestation in connection with a 2007 attack on an 8-year-old girl at a Mossyrock area campground.

Harrison said his client’s previous attorney ought to have provided mitigating evidence to try to get a deal with much less time. In his motion, he states Juntunen shows absolutely no indicators of being a sexual deviant outside the one incident.

Juntunen’s goal is not to escape punishment, but to obtain a more reasonable sentence, he said.

Harrison said he understood the deputy prosecutor believed including the aggravating factor – which mandated the lengthy sentence – was mandatory, but it’s not.

“The Supreme Court about a month before he was charged said it was discretionary,” Harrison said.

Without it, the sentence for that offense would be something more like 10 years, or even a special sentencing alternative, he said.
•••

For background, read “Winlock High School grad gets 25 plus years for molestation” from Wednesday December 12, 2012, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A standoff with an armed suicidal man ended yesterday with the 23-year-old subject dead inside a Winlock area home.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office reports the man had been holed up in his parent’s residence since Saturday.

It began when the man made threats to kill family members and refused to leave their home on the 100 block of Florence Place east of Winlock, according to the sheriff’s office.

Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said in a news release the family left, while deputies along with a mental health professional attempted to resolve the situation.

At about 2:30 p.m. yesterday, he came outside with a handgun and deputies attempted to take him into custody, but he ran back indoors, according to Brown. A sheriff’s office negotiator made phone contact with him again before gunshot was heard, according to Brown.

The SWAT team was on the scene, on standby, according to Brown.

He was located inside the residence dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Brown. His name was not released.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield called it a very sad situation for everyone involved, in which authorities worked tirelessly to bring to a safe ending.

“We explored numerous options over the past four days hoping this young man would opt to seek help for his issues and no one would be hurt,” Mansfield said in the news release. “Unfortunately he chose to take his life.”

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The former Toledo elementary school principal who was arrested following a coroner’s inquest but not charged with a crime two years ago in connection with his then-wife’s 1998 death has claimed $5 million in damages for what his attorney calls scandalous proceedings that severely harmed his client’s reputation and employability.

Ron Reynolds and one of his sons, Jonathan Reynolds who was similarly affected, blame the Lewis County coroner.

Ron Reynolds

“It’s difficult to put a value on your life when it’s been ruined,” Olympia-based attorney Rick Cordes said today. “The loss of retirement, earnings, your reputation.”

The senior Reynolds, now 62, hasn’t worked since the inquest took place, according to Cordes. Jonathan Reynolds, now 32 and residing in Montesano, might be working now, Cordes said, but he wasn’t sure.

A tort claim filed with the county on behalf of the men in October got no response, leading to a lawsuit filed earlier this month in Lewis County Superior Court. The lawyer representing Coroner Warren McLeod quickly removed the case to federal court.

At issue is the October 2011 coroner’s inquest convened by McLeod, who made a campaign promise the year before to deal with the long controversial death of former state trooper Ronda Reynolds.

Ronda Reynolds, 33, was found with a bullet in her head and covered by a turned-on electric blanket on the floor of a closet in the Toledo home she shared with her husband of less than a year and his three sons.

Jonathan Reynolds

The inquest jury was unanimous in its determinations her death was a homicide and named Ron and Jonathan Reynolds as responsible. McLeod had arrest warrants issued and the two brought before a judge who immediately released them as the prosecutor was not filing criminal charges.

The complaint filed in Lewis County Superior Court on December 6 names Lewis County and Coroner McLeod.

Cordes contends in the filing McLeod had no legal basis for calling the inquest, had no intention to conduct it fairly and that the proceedings were handled negligently and recklessly.

“The actions of the defendant, as described herein, were scandalous and libelous and did severe damage to the plaintiffs’ reputations and integrity,” Cordes wrote.

According to Cordes, the coroner had no jurisdiction over the deceased’s body, from a case almost 13 years earlier. He points to McLeod going forward with arrest warrants even knowing the prosecutor would not be filing charges against anyone and with the sheriff’s office’s investigations all finding the death was a suicide.

Warren McLeod

The complaint claims a major part of McLeod’s election campaign was advising voters he would have Ronda Reynolds’ death be reinvestigated and determined to be homicide, and that the inquest was designed to bring that about and lacked fundamental fairness.

McLeod, elected in November 2010 as the first new county corner in decades, was moving through ambiguously charted territory.

Coroner’s inquests in Washington state are rare, and McLeod, with assistance from Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor David Fine, created and adopted a set of rules to guide the proceedings.

After the Oct. 19, 2011 finding, McLeod issued then quashed his own warrants saying they served no purpose since no charges would be filed, but then he reversed himself, pointing to the state statute that the coroner “shall” issue warrants if the inquest jury ascertains it is a homicide and identifies who is responsible.

On the day the Reynolds’s were brought in front of Judge James Lawler, Cordes shared outside the Chehalis courtroom that his understanding of the law was different, that the statute was originally adopted around 1850 and was designed for the coroner to act when the sheriff was unavailable.

Ronda Reynolds

The inquest and the days that followed it were heavily covered by the local and regional news media, as well as providing the framework for a one-hour documentary produced by CBS television’s 48 Hours Mystery.

The lawsuit, and the claim that preceded it, speak of a great deal of mental and emotional distress as well as public humiliation and crippling financial consequences for the Reynolds’s.

McLeod’s action have made it extremely difficult for the two men to continue to live in their respective communities, according to Cordes.

“Ron was a well-respected member of the community,” Cordes said. “And that’s not true anymore.”

While the claim to the county listed $5 million in damages, the lawsuit asks for an amount to be proven at trial, costs and attorney fees as well as other relief the court may deem just and equitable.

McLeod said today he can’t, on the advice of his attorney, comment on pending litigation.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said he and his staff don’t have a role in the case, because of the possibility of being called as witnesses.

The coroner and the county will be represented by John Justice, whose Tumwater law firm specializes in working with government agencies in civil cases.

Justice is the same lawyer who was hired to represent former Coroner Terry Wilson when Ronda Reynolds’ death was the subject of a civil trial in 2009, after which a panel of citizens concluded Wilson’s determination she died of suicide was arbitrary, capricious and incorrect.

•••

CORRECTION: This item has been updated to correctly reflect the town in which Jonathan Reynolds resides.
•••

For background, read “Breaking news: Inquest jurors: Ronda Reynolds was murdered” from Wednesday October 19, 2011, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – With just three days left before the deadline to apply for a state license to legally sell marijuana, four entities in Lewis County have sought the okay from authorities.

Storefronts for cannabis could potentially open at a gas and grocery in Onalaska, and locations on Centralia’s South Gold Street as well as State Avenue in Chehalis and farther south along Jackson Highway.

But it won’t happen anytime soon.

Moratoriums are in place regarding such activity in the cities of Chehalis, Centralia and in unincorporated areas of the county. Even once they end, Lewis County officials and Mossyrock leaders have already chosen to require applicants to provide approval from the feds, which still outlaw marijuana.

The new market on the verge of opening comes from last year’s passage by voters of Initiative 502. The law that went into effect last December made it legal for for individuals 21 or older to possess as much as one ounce of marijuana and set up rules under which licensees may cultivate and package the greens and related products.

The number of retailers who could locate in Lewis County is capped at seven, with no more than two inside Centralia city limits and just one within the city of Chehalis.

There is no limit to the number of growers and processors, and already more than 20 locally have indicated their desire by submitting applications to the Washington State Liquor Control Board.

A spokesperson for the state agency said he suspects stores could begin selling by late June, but the timing falls on the market itself, as crops must be first grown and then processed.

The WSLCB could begin issuing licenses as soon as late February or early March, spokesperson Mikhail Carpenter said yesterday.

Carpenter based that on the 60 to 90 days it usually takes to issue liquor licenses.

Retailing hopefuls so far are:
• Allen’s Grocery & Gas, 2058 state Route 508, Onalaska
• Old Toby, 391 NW State Ave., Chehalis
• K-B Buds, 4237 Jackson Highway, Chehalis
• Casey’s Cannibas, 1613 S. Gold Street, Centralia

Wannabe growers and processors locally so far, are:
• Green Freedom, 119 and 120 Wallace Road, Mossyrock
• Tala Farms, Kjesbu Road, Silver Creek
• Evergreen Nirvana, 501 Boone Road, Ethel
• Silver Trees, 453 Gore Road, Onalaska
• Staffy’s Garden, 3966 Jackson Highway, Chehalis
• Wind Rose Farms, 763-11 Coal Creek Road, Chehalis
• MNO, 208 Maurin Road, Chehalis
• Evergreen Trees LLC, 208 Maurin Road, Chehalis
• Holland’s Hope, 208 Maurin Road, Chehalis
ª Alfhild Venutures, 208 Maurin Road, Chehalis
• Green Acres, 2405 Wildwood Road, Curtis
• Forbidden Farms at 201 Boistfort-Winlock Road, Chehalis
• Aaron’s Original, 177 Rarey Road, Winlock
• Nivia Enterprises, 142 Blake Road, Toledo
• Triple K Ranch, 757 Spencer Road, Toledo
• Kenneth Kindred, 2576 Seminary Hill Road, Centralia
• Warehouse 420, 21847 Lee Road, Centralia
• Grace’s Gold, 3134 Zenkner Valley Road, SW, Centralia
• Planet Medicine, 1708 Kresky Ave., Centralia
• George Washington Brand, 619 W. Reynolds Ave., Centralia
• Eastern Gate, 515 N. Gold St., Centralia
•••

For further details about the emerging marijuana market, check FAQ on I-502 from Washington State Liquor Control Board, here