CASE UPDATES: October 2009

Elder Financial Abuse:  State v. Dash:  Defendant Tyrone Dash has been convicted of First Degree Theft for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly woman who suffers from dementia.  The defendant befriended the woman in 2002 and gradually took over the management of her finances.  At one point, the victim had an estate worth over $1 million dollars, but the defendant left her virtually penniless.  The defendant unsuccessfully tried to defend his actions by claiming that he had simply made appropriate investments with the victim's money.  The 97 year-old victim passed away in February 2009.  Even though the jury found that this crime had been committed against a particularly vulnerable victim (a statutory aggravating circumstances under Washington State sentencing laws), the defendant faces a sentence of only 0-90 days in jail.  However, Senior DPA Ivan Orton, who handled the prosecution of this case, will seek an exceptional sentence against the defendant.  To read more about this case, please click this link.

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Assault on Vulnerable Victim:  State v. Hickman:  Defendant Carey Hickman has been convicted of First Degree Assault, Domestic Violence for beating of a physically-disabled 69-year-old man he had been hired to care for.  Neighbors heard the assault and called police.  Even after police arrived at the scene, the defendant continued to threaten the victim.  Police ultimately broke down the door to the home, and found the elderly victim bloody and nearly unconscious.  Fortunately, the victim has recovered from his injuries, in part because he received emergency medical treatment at the scene.    The defendant now faces a sentence of nine to 10 years in prison.  Senior DPA Jessica Berliner handled the prosecution of this case.

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Child Sexual Assault:  State v. Hipp:  Defendant William Hipp has been convicted of Second Degree Rape of a Child for sexually assaulting a 12 year-old runaway girl.  Prosecution of this case was complicated by the fact that the victim was initially reluctant to testify and moved out of state immediately after this incident.  Ultimately, this victim found the courage to testify, and her testimony helped the jury find the defendant guilty.  Because the defendant has a prior out-of-state child sexual assault conviction, he now faces a potential sentence of life in prison without possibility of release under Washington's "Two Sex Offense Strikes and You're Out" law.  DPA Shelby Smith handled the prosecution of this case.

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Felony DUI:  State v. Vallejo:  Defendant Teodoro Vallejo has been convicted of Felony DUI.  His criminal history includes at least eight prior DUI convictions (all misdemeanors).  In 2007, the Washington State Legislature created a new felony DUI law to combat repeat DUI offenders.  Under the new law, a person can be charged with felony DUI if the person has four or more DUI convictions within the previous 10 years.  The defendant's current felony DUI was solely on the excellent police work of Seattle Police Officers Michael Lewis and David Peplowski and their observations of the defendant.  At the scene, the defendant refused to participate in field sobriety or blood alcohol content tests.  The defendant now faces a sentence of up to five years, the statutory maximum.  DPA Kathy Ungerman handled the prosecution of this case.