[Vision2020] Say What??????

Wed Mar 31 10:31:33 PDT 2010

Dan, et al,

We are complete agreement here.  

I have not read the case file yet, but early on allegations were made that the strangulation began while the victim was asleep.  I also hope that no parts of the case file are sealed except those which are sealed under strict mandate of law; not having some filings sealed as they were, for example, in the Sitler case to conceal the incompetency and egregiously poor judgment of certain public officials and to conceal the depravity of Sitler.

I am copying County Clerk Susan Peterson with this post with the request that she put and maintain the entire Parks case file online in PDF format, just as she so generously did in the Moscow Massacre case (Hamilton) case so that the many Latah County citizens with an interest in this case can have access to and can copy this information.

I fail to understand why Parks, now having admitted that he murdered his pregnant wife, and then burned her body to conceal his cowardly, brutal act, remains out on bail.  The only solace to be hoped for here is that Parks will take this opportunity to terminate himself.

Dan, here's where I hope we can be in agreement also:

We need to elect a competent, energetic PA who not only has balls and stellar trial abilities, but who will engage a staff with the same.  And a PA not susceptible to the influences of the good ol' boy/girl network in deciding the dispositions to be pursued in any case.  

Without the strong threat of winning trials, the PA is forced to make weak plea bargains.  Winning trials by the PA makes stronger plea bargains a matter of course.

The PA's function has been in great hurt and has failed to provide protection for Latah County in my opinion since the departure of stellar trial attorney Robin Eckmann.  Witness the humiliating, totally unnecessary loss the manslaughter case where four people were killed on the highway south of Moscow on Reisenauer Hill.  PA Thompson tried this one himself.  A truck driver out of control kills four people, and the prosecutor fails to show negligence?

Many years ago in Boundary County, as a very young attorney, Randy Day, was elected PA.  For one with little experience; he did a credible job, probably better than many who have held that position since.  Randy Day (now deceased) went on to become one of the most astute and formidable attorneys in northern Idaho.  He was an exceptionally effective criminal defense trial attorney.  Near the end of his career in a show of public service he again ran for PA and was elected.  He was then a very effective PA and showed great personal courage in pursuing cases that many influential people preferred to have buried or to have resulted in sweetheart plea bargains.

All of us need to try our best to persuade an effective, ethical, proven, courageous local attorney to run for PA and to rigorously work for that person's election.  Until we have an effective PA function, Latah County will continue to see the sickening results like in cases like Parks and Sitler.  Such results not only perverts and makes a laughingstock of the criminal justice system, but fails greatly to provide the amount of deterrence desirable.

Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID  83843

waf at moscow.com
208 882-7975
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dan Carscallen 
  To: 'Moscow Vision 2020' 
  Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 6:28 AM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Say What??????

  Wayne, 

  We're on the same side here.  Not being the judge, nor having attended any of the deliberations up to this point, I can't really speak to what went down and why.

  But I do know what my opinion is regarding someone who (now admittedly) killed his wife and unborn child then burned them to try and hide the crime, then gets to go live at his parents' house while out on bail, even now while he awaits sentencing.  I don't think there are enough expletives to fully articulate it at the moment.

  DC

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Wayne Price [mailto:bear at moscow.com] 
  Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 6:27 PM
  To: Dan Carscallen
  Cc: 'Vision 2020'
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Say What??????

  Dan,

  While I agree with you on the expenses of a full blown 1st Degree murder trial, I have to ask,  "Is  'justice'  in Latah county now a matter of money?" 

  Wayne

  On Mar 30, 2010, at 6:20 PM, Dan Carscallen wrote:

  I can understand the feelings about this, as I have them too.  Remember, our volunteer firefighters found Sarah Parks, and it's still a big deal to us.  But, from the Trib:

  "Sarah Parks' family supports the plea deal, [Thompson] said."

  so there's that . . . but, like Wayne Fox, I'm not sure the death penalty should have been taken off the table so early on.  Then again, I'm not a lawyer.  And, looking at it with the cold, unemotional eye of economics, this is a helluva lot cheaper than going to a full capital murder trial.

  Not that it makes it taste any better.

  DC

    ----- Original Message -----

    From: Rosemary

    To: 'Wayne Price' ; 'Vision 2020'

    Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 4:11 PM

    Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Say What??????

    This is unbelievable on many levels.  Why in the world did Bill Thompson agree/negotiate to this plea bargain?  What was his reasoning?  The electorate should demand and explanation from him for this decision.  Why is arson, a property crime, treated in a more punitive manner than murder?  And please, don't parse words and legal terminology about the difference between murder and manslaughter.  Dead is dead, and the actions of Silas Parks were deliberate and intentional as the initial charge indicated.    This is a sickening miscarriage of justice and an embarrassment to Latah County.

    Rose Huskey

    From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Wayne Price
    Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 3:37 PM
    To: Vision 2020
    Subject: [Vision2020] Say What??????

    WOW!  We go from a death penalty case to a plea bargain!

    "Parks pleads guilty to manslaughter
    March 30, 2010, 3:25 pm

    Silas Parks, 26, pleaded guilty today to two counts of voluntary manslaughter and one count of first degree arson stemming from the June 24 deaths of his wife, Sarah Parks, and their unborn child. 

    Parks will face up 40 years in prison, 15 years for the two counts of manslaughter and 25 years for the count of arson.

    He is scheduled for sentencing at 1:30 on June 8.

    For more on this story, check www.DNews.com and Wednesday's edition of the Daily News."

    No virus found in this incoming message.
    Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
    Version: 8.5.437 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2779 - Release Date: 03/30/10 06:32:00

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    =======================================================
     List services made available by First Step Internet, 
     serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
                   http://www.fsr.net                       
              mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
    =======================================================

  =======================================================
  List services made available by First Step Internet, 
  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
                http://www.fsr.net                       
           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
  =======================================================

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  =======================================================
   List services made available by First Step Internet, 
   serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
                 http://www.fsr.net                       
            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
  =======================================================
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20100331/83c8bf5f/attachment-0001.html 