Lewis County Sirens.com

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.

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CORRECTION: This item has been updated to correctly reflect the town in which Jonathan Reynolds resides.
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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
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For further details about the emerging marijuana market, check FAQ on I-502 from Washington State Liquor Control Board, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

One of the two men convicted in connection with the events at a Salkum-Onalaska area home in which three people were fatally shot in August 2010 has lost his appeal regarding his responsibility to pay funeral and burial expenses for two of the victims.

Ryan J. McCarthy

Ryan J. McCarthy, 28, Redmond, and John A. Booth, 31, of Onalaska, were both charged with first-degree murder and extortion shortly after the slayings of David West Sr. 52, his son David West Jr., 16, and a friend Tony E. Williams, 50, of Randle. Denise Salts, then 51, who also lived at the house on Wings Way, survived a gunshot wound to her face.

Authorities contended the visit by the two former cell mates to the residence was related to some kind of debt collection and that gun fire erupted when West Sr. brought out a shotgun and told them to get out of his house.

Booth was convicted by a jury two years ago of murder, attempted murder, attempted extortion and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is serving a life sentence.

McCarthy was sentenced to 14 years in prison after getting a deal in which he pleaded guilty under doctrines such that he pleaded to crimes he did not commit to escape consequences of more serious charges, and agreed if a jury heard and believed the state’s evidence, he would likely be convicted.

McCarthy appealed the order by Lewis County Superior Court that he pay as part of his restitution the expenses for West Jr. and Williams who were shot by Booth, according to the opinion issued last week by the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division II.

He pleaded to first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and attempted extortion in connection only with West Sr., according to the opinion. His murder charges were dismissed.

At his restitution hearing, both prosecutors and the defense argued to the trial judge he must find a causal connection, but the judge disagreed, according to the opinion. And two of the three appeals judges sided with the trial court judge.

The amounts in question were $5,750 for West. Jr. and $819.25 for Williams.

Judges George Fearing and Joel Penoyer stated that since the state paid benefits for West Jr. and Williams, finding they were entitled, it must have concluded McCarthy’s burglary, robbery and extortion were a proximate cause of their deaths.

In her dissent, Judge Jill M. Johanson pointed out the payments were distributed less than a month after the original charges were filed and long before McCarthy’s role was presented.

Johnason agreed with McCarthy that the Lewis County Superior Court erred as it improperly imposed restitution without making a finding his acts were related to the expenses incurred.

At his sentencing, prosecutors told the judge Booth fired the shots and “Mr. McCarthy was there.” His lawyer told the judge his client passed a  a lie detector test that confirmed his story in which he ran outside before Booth fired any shots.
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For background, read “Court hearing reveals more details about Salkum triple slaying” from Saturday Oct. 1,  2011, here