Did the Portland Police Bureau steer a minor sex abuse victim to hire former attorney Lori Deveny?
It is certain that the full extent of the forgery and theft allegedly committed by former Portland, Oregon attorney Lori Deveny would be less known had she not been involved in the criminal case brought against prominent real estate broker and activist Terry Bean. That case, brought in 2014 on charges of sex abuse and sodomy, was dismissed because Bean’s minor accuser failed to show up for trial. That minor, known in court filings as “M.S.G.,” claims that Deveny negotiated a financial settlement for him in exchange for his failure to appear.
And the arrangement was going great for almost…
Witness describes Clackamas incident as “excessive force”
On April 29, during evening rush traffic in the westbound lanes of the Milwaukie Expressway at 82nd Avenue, Michael Brennan of Happy Valley drove past a scene that caused him to pause: Four Oregon State Troopers appeared to be tending to a young Black man who may have had a bicycle accident on the side of the road.
Brennan watched carefully as one of the Troopers got a medical kit from her cruiser and rushed back to the scene to administer first aid.
It was then that Brennan noticed that the young man was in handcuffs.
Brennan continued to his…
Former Portland attorney Joel Mathew DeVore, disbarred in 2020, was indicted in Multnomah County Circuit Court this Wednesday, charged with two counts each of Identity Theft and Simulation of Legal Process, both class C felonies. A warrant for DeVore’s arrest was signed by Judge Cheryl Albrecht on the same day, and remains active.
The fraudulent documents central to the case were allegedly created by DeVore in a legal matter he was handling; and he seemingly created them to get his client, Jessica Mozeico, off of his back. The fraudulent documents include a declaration of service and a court judgment.
The independent investigation into Misha Isaak
Today, Governor Kate Brown’s office released records related to the “independent investigation” that was conducted into the claims of inappropriate conduct by former staffer Misha Isaak, that were alleged by former Public Records Advocate Ginger McCall.
The records that Brown’s office provided are significant. But even more noteworthy is what her office withheld.
Isaak’s conduct toward McCall was revealed in September 2019, when she resigned while citing his political pressuring and “abuse of authority.” …
Oregon attorney Ginger Mooney represented Saudi Arabian student Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah in the 2016 hit and run
Seth Smart, the father of beautiful Fallon — the young victim killed in August 2016 by Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah’s recklessly speeding car — has filed a bar complaint against Ginger Mooney, the attorney who represented Noorah in the criminal case. This moves Mooney and her conduct out of the court of public opinion and into the court of legal ethics, where they belong.
Misha Isaak’s No-Fault Reputation
Last week, in a Christmas eve news dump, two interesting Oregon stories dropped into the public consciousness: The allegations of inappropriate conduct by former Public Records Advocate Ginger McCall against Misha Isaak, Governor Kate Brown’s former top lawyer, were declared meritless; and the Oregon Supreme Court conditionally granted former Springfield police officer Neil Halttunen his law license, after a three-year campaign against him by the Oregon State Bar.
At first glance, the two stories seem unconnected. But a deeper excavation reveals a common denominator: Misha Isaak, Brown’s former top lawyer who “resigned” that position in February 2020 after a botched…
The Oregon State Bar’s Pro Bono Problem
Recently, two prominent Portland-area attorneys with a substantial history of leadership in Oregon’s legal community quietly made the switch from active to pro bono status.
While that certainly sounds altruistic on paper, in reality the two appear to have made the move to avoid professional/ethical prosecution by their licensor, the Oregon State Bar (OSB) — and possibly even to avoid potential criminal charges.
It also appears that they did so with the OSB’s blessing. An obscure bylaw may help explain why.
In 2015, Deanna Wray and her now-disgraced-former-attorney friend, Lori Deveny, allegedly hatched a scheme to conceal a witness in…
Judicial Prejudice at Oregon’s Clackamas County Circuit Court
Oregon citizens depend on their local courts to be neutral and to administer justice without prejudice. The entire judicial system hinges on its own integrity, and the people‘s faith in it.
It is therefore disappointing to report that in Clackamas County Circuit Court, the system is badly broken: judges, including Presiding Judge Kathie Steele and Thomas Rastetter, were caught gossiping like middle-schoolers; and the Trial Court Administrator, Debbie Spradley, was caught trying to sow prejudice against a self-represented and disabled litigant.
This disturbing conduct may have remained hidden if it were not for public records requests. And while the judicial…
Keeping Up Appearances at the Oregon State Bar
Another day, another attorney allegedly engaged in criminal conduct of the most shocking degree: forgery of court documents, identity theft of a judge (!) and a process server, and simulation of legal process. All are Class C felonies in Oregon.
When the Oregon State Bar receives credible allegations of an attorney’s felonious conduct such as this, the OSB has a duty to act quickly to protect the public from it. One of their tools is to seek the attorney’s immediate suspension while their investigation proceeds.
Yet the OSB, under the leadership of Executive Director Helen Hierschbiel, has persistently refused to…
Megan Moeller (aka Megan Perry) was arraigned yesterday, August 13, 2020, in U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, on one charge of aggravated identity theft allegedly committed “during and in relation to a felony violation” of wire fraud. Moeller, an attorney formerly licensed in Oregon and Washington, entered a plea of “not guilty.” A five day trial is now set for mid-October of this year.
Moeller requested, and was appointed, a federal public defender at no cost, despite having retained a private attorney in the state criminal case against her. Ironically, her husband, Erik J.D. …
