violence – Attorney Legal Counsel

Davenport woman gets new attorneys in double murder case

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 00:39:55 +0000

The Davenport woman accused of taking part in a Jan. 15 double murder has two new attorneys.

Adriana Blake, 27, is now represented by Des Moines-based attorney Christopher Kragnes of Kragnes & Associates. Austin J. Luse will serve as Blake’s second attorney as she faces a pair of first-degree murder charges in the killings of Brian L. Goodwin and Amy M. Smith.

Kragnes and Luse replace attorneys Alex Gilmore and F.M. Brown, who were appointed on March 15.

Blake and her co-defendant, Devon Braet, were slated to face a jury trial starting on Jan. 4, 2025.

Braet, 34, also faces two first-degree murder charges. Blake and Braet were staying with Goodwin in the home he rented at 5210 N. Division St. at the time of the murders.

Blake’s change of attorneys is the latest chapter in the increasingly complicated story of Blake’s requests for changes in the nature of her defense.

A new request

On Sept. 30 Blake sent a one-line letter to the Scott County Clerk of the Court that read:

“To whom it may concern: My name is Adriana Blake and I am writing pro se seeking a motion disqualifying my counsel.”

Days later, Gilmore filed a motion to withdraw as Blake’s counsel. In that motion Gilmore said Blake ” … wants to revoke waiver of speedy trial, withdraw motion to sever, presumably refuse counsel’s intent to file a motion for a change of venue, and various other complaints.”

Gilmore added in the motion that Blake ” … wants a trial sooner than that set for January 4, 2025 and wants it jointly with the co-defendant” against Gilmore’s recommendations.

Along with the appointment of new attorneys, Blake also made a number of requests that, if granted, will change the course of the defense Gilmore outlined in a late July motion.

That motion asked for Blake and Braet to be severed as co-defendants.

‘Acted under duress’

Blake and Braet were arrested together in Davenport on Jan. 18 and were charged with the killings of Goodwin and Smith on Feb. 5. They were arraigned together, but were represented by different attorneys.

Gilmore laid out Blake’s defense against the charges of first-degree murder in the late July motion to sever. He said Blake planned to claim she “acted under duress” during the Jan. 15 murders of Smith and Goodwin.

“The ‘core’ defense of defendant Blake is that she did not fire a weapon, kill anyone, and was effectively coerced, threatened with bodily harm and acted under duress, and Braet’s acts involving the killings were not foreseeable nor agreed to or participated in by defendant Blake.”

During their arraignment for the murders, Davenport police investigator Brandon Askew testified that Blake and Braet drove to a Galesburg hotel sometime after the fire on the morning of Jan. 16. Investigators found cell phones and photos with the two posing with guns and body armor at the hotel.

Askew told the court in one of the videos Blake said, “I shot both of them.”

Gilmore’s motion addresses Askew’s testimony and other statements investigators allege Blake made after being arrested, writing that Blake ” … may specifically claim that she was supplied drugs by Braet, drug-addled” and that statements investigators allege she made were a result of Braet’s “coercion.”

Gilmore also wrote Blake would seek to introduce otherwise inadmissible evidence against Braet, including his criminal history and Blake’s knowledge of Braet’s “history of violence.”

Braet recently was charged with a plot to attack and kill another inmate at the Scott County Jail. Those charges came after he wrote a letter asking to rescind his waiver of speedy trial.

A search for an attorney

The path to Blake’s current legal representation was not an easy one and points to the difficulties courts can face when defendants with extensive witness lists and prior criminal histories need court-appointed attorneys.

After Gilmore and Brown were allowed to withdraw, the court appointed Jeffery Powell to serve as Blake’s attorney. But Powell works for Keegan Tindal & Jaeger, a private firm that represents indigent clients and another attorney had to withdraw from representing Braet months ago.

Powell cited the possible conflict and F.M. Brown was “inadvertently re-appointed” to represent Blake. Brown withdrew and Kragnes was appointed.

Blake was initially represented by the Scott County Public defender’s office and attorney Troy Smith. Gilmore and Brown replaced Smith.

Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter

Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email.

Source link

Attorneys and law firms can elevate their online presence with professionally written content from SEO Content Writing Services monthly plan. Our team of experienced writers specializes in crafting blog posts, articles, and written content that accurately reflect the expertise and knowledge of our clients in the legal field. With a keen eye for detail and a thorough understanding of legal terminology, we provide high-quality writing that helps our clients stand out from their competition and engage with their target audience. Trust SEO Content Writing Services for one time article writing or monthly written content to handle all of your written content needs and showcase your law firm's expertise.
If you need written content, blog posts, or articles professionally written for your website, we can help. Go HERE to find out more.
or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
To find out more about our article writing or blog post services, fill out the form, thank you.

The post Davenport woman gets new attorneys in double murder case appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Commissioner sees few ways to help homeless people

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 09:53:57 +0000

While decrying violence among the community’s homeless population in the wake of a deadly fight in Kalispell earlier this month, Flathead County Commissioner Brad Abell said Friday that there was little local policymakers could — or would — do for residents who declined to improve their lives.

The fatal Aug. 13 brawl near the Parkline Trail prompted Abell to pen a letter to the editor linking the death of 32-year-old Kalispell resident Brian Radabah to an open letter the Flathead County Board of Commissioners released earlier in the year condemning “the homeless lifestyle.” In it, commissioners blamed service workers and nonprofits for attracting ever more homeless people to the Flathead Valley.

Kalispell is home to the second largest homeless population in Montana, behind Missoula.

“Make no mistake, it is a lifestyle choice for some,” the commissioners’ January letter reads. “In fact, many of the homeless encountered in our parks, streets, and alleys consist of a progressive networked community who have made the decision to reject help and live unmoored.”

Abell wrote this week that 34-year-old Cody Mize, the man initially held on a pending aggravated assault charge, was an example of the type of homeless individual the commissioners had identified as a source of concern. Mize, later released from county jail without any charges filed against him, was identified by Kalispell Police officials as having a last known address in California, though they did not describe his housing situation.

“They have come here from somewhere else to take advantage of our generosity and prey on the vulnerable of our community,” Abell wrote. “They don’t show up here for our views and scenery or to fill much needed jobs but because they know that they can hold a sign and that our well-meaning and kindhearted citizens will give them their spare dollars.”

In an interview on Friday, Abell admitted assuming — based on second- and third-hand information — that both men involved in the fight were homeless, saying he had not spoken with either the Flathead County attorney’s Office, Kalispell Police Department or Flathead County Sheriff’s Office prior to drafting the letter. He also acknowledged that Mize, with confirmed ties to California, might not have been the aggressor.

“The fact that the County attorney’s Office and Kalispell Police Department turned him loose without bail kinda leads me to believe that maybe there was some self defense involved,” Abell said. “I didn’t put that kind of stuff in my letter because I can’t verify that.”

County attorney Travis Ahner on Friday said he could not comment on the case, citing the ongoing investigation into Radabah’s death. He praised investigators at the Kalispell Police Department for their thorough work.

“The matter remains under investigation and we’ll make decisions based on the answers that come from that investigation,” Ahner said.

Abell said he meant for his letter to highlight the ways the county is addressing homelessness. In it, he argues that funding for youth programs and support for organizations like 4-H and FFA helps put children and teenagers on the right path in life. Abell also called on residents to mentor and engage with young people, particularly those coming from struggling backgrounds.

“We get asked what the county is doing and we say nothing, or it looks like that when it gets to the paper or the public, that we’re not doing anything, and I want to highlight what we are doing and how we’re working on that [with] an ounce of prevention,” Abell said.

AS FOR the county’s current homeless population, Abell said he hoped officials could find ways to help those receptive to it, but offered few policy proposals. A booth he manned at the Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo last week was adjacent to one for a local 12-step recovery organization.

“I talked to that guy; he decided he wanted out of that,” Abell said while noting that not all homeless people suffered from addiction. “At some point, you’ve got to decide. … You can’t make everybody do that. It’s a personal choice.”

Abell said he has aided state Reps. Bob Keenan and Dave Fern in their work on a newly-formed state commission to overhaul Montana’s mental health system and worked to shunt resources to the Sheriff’s Office and County attorney’s Office.

But for those who decline or refuse help, he said there was little that local government could do for them.

“If you refuse help, all you want to do is sit on the street corner and have someone give you money and you take that money and go to the bar or go to the casino and it’s gone tomorrow. I don’t know how you help that person. I really don’t,” he said. “ I’m not going to take taxpayer money and fix that problem.”

He believes that a portion of the homeless community suffers from purposelessness. Officials — and residents — can head that off by intervening in young people’s lives, he said.

“I don’t think you solve it by building them all a house on the taxpayer dollar,” Abell said of current homeless people.

ABELL’S LETTER also objects to the way the press has covered the homeless population in the Flathead Valley, particularly as it intersects with crime. The commissioners’ January letter came out as officials in Kalispell closed a pavilion in Depot Park in response to concerns arising from homeless people using it as a shelter.

Kalispell City Council subsequently enacted a series of ordinances aimed at restricting homeless people’s access to municipal parks as well as panhandlers.

As residents debated how to approach the problem of homelessness at public meetings and on social media platforms, homeless resident Scott Bryan was allegedly murdered in a gas station parking lot near the intersection of Appleway Drive and North Meridian Road. Prosecutors have charged 19-year-old Kaleb Fleck with deliberate homicide in connection with the slaying. Another teenager arrested in connection with the murder saw no charges brought against him.

The Daily Inter Lake confirmed at the time that authorities were investigating reports of teenagers attacking homeless people in public spaces at night.

Abell wrote that while Bryan’s alleged murder elicited a public outcry and media coverage, subsequent stories involving crimes reportedly committed by people Abell believes to be homeless earned less attention.

“We didn’t see the same moral outrage when a resident of Samaritan House was [allegedly] sexually assaulted on the 29th of July by his roommate while he slept. Instead, the story was buried on page 6 [of the Daily Inter Lake],” Abell wrote. “We didn’t see outrage when a homeless man [allegedly] assaulted a [Kalispell Police] officer on June 18th in Depot Park. Our law enforcement is under attack and that story must not have fit the right narrative.”

Abell, in the subsequent interview, expressed frustration with people linking the commissioners’ January letter to Bryan’s alleged murder.

“I’m held culpable for that because of a letter we wrote in January and I really don’t think those teenagers read that letter to the editor in their life,” Abell said.

Like homeless people, teenagers can also suffer from purposelessness, he said.

“These things are the same, they stem from the same problem,” Abell said. “These people don’t have purpose in their lives. I am out in the community and I can see this.”

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.

The post Commissioner sees few ways to help homeless people appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.