There are common misdemeanor offenses, and then there are the obscure.
This past July, a homeless Portland woman was charged with third-degree theft when she plugged her cellphone charger into an outlet on a sidewalk planter box in Old Town.
Cases in which people are charged with theft for plugging electronic devices into private outlets are uncommon, but defense attorneys say they are another example of resources wasted for frivolous offenses.
In this case, the theft was first reported by Portland Patrol Inc., and two Portland police officers followed up to issue citations to the woman and her co-defendant, a homeless man who was also charging his cellphone, to appear in court for third-degree theft of services — a Class C misdemeanor.
According to the Electrical Research Institute, it costs about 25 cents per year to charge the average mobile phone. If the phone in this scenario had gone from zero charge to full charge, the cost would have amounted to mere fractions of a penny.
Jackie* said she was shocked when four uniformed officers all agreed her actions warranted charges and a court summons.
If this charge led to a conviction, something that’s never happened to her before, it would mean the difference between checking “no” or “yes” to questions about criminal history on a job or housing application.
Her attorney, Metropolitan Public Defender Stacy Du Clos, said Jackie’s main concern at the time was how this pending case might hurt her chances of getting a roof over her head — she’s homeless and on several waiting lists for affordable housing units.
“It’s just my sense of right and wrong,” said Jackie. “And it just feels so damn wrong — the amount of time and money and wasted resources with the judge, the lawyers, the clerks, the police and on and on.”
Jackie’s case went to Community Court — an effective way to avoid the higher costs associated with processing misdemeanor crimes through Circuit Court. It can also help people who need social services such as drug or alcohol treatment, said Public defender Jane Fox.
The majority of charges sent to Community Court, said Fox, get reduced from misdemeanors to violations. According to numbers compiled by Clean and Safe District, between 2002 and 2012, about 67 percent of defendants processed through Community Court closed their cases in full compliance.
If defendants don’t show up for their initial arraignment, they get a bench warrant - which can lead to an arrest - and if they don’t show up after being ordered to do community service or treatment, they’re issued a fine ranging from $435 to $635.
“Given the population we’re dealing with here, it’s like trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip,” said Fox.
Jackie missed her first arraignment. She said she lost her citation, but turned herself in a couple of months later. Records show a bench warrant had been issued, and when she turned herself in she was booked into jail and then released the same day. She didn’t miss court again.
Jackie usually tries to stay away from Portland’s Old Town because, she said, she gets hassled a lot, by people on the streets and police alike.
“I used to come down here with my kids and grandkids all the time before I was homeless, and I was never harassed once,” she said. For many years she worked in social services, and in some cases, with police officers. “I always liked cops,” she said. But now, she said, her perspective has changed.
On the day of her arrest, she had to walk through Old Town to get to Transition Projects, a non-profit service provider, to take a shower, and her phone was dead. For Jackie, having a charged cell phone is a matter of personal safety. “Men approach me, stuff happens,” she said.
She saw a man charging his phone on the corner of Northwest Davis Street and Third Avenue and decided to join him. She had no idea that what she was about to do could bring a theft charge.
In Community Court she was given the opportunity to get the charges reduced, but only if she pleaded guilty and then completed community service. If things didn’t go according to that plan, she’d have a misdemeanor conviction and a hefty fine to pay.
But Jackie didn’t want to plead guilty to theft when she felt like she had done nothing wrong. And she didn’t want an offense on her record that could jeopardize her chance at housing.
She decided to fight the charge which moved her case over to the regular Circuit Court misdemeanor docket. She was assigned the second of two publically funded attorneys who would handle her case.
The district attorney’s deal in circuit court wasn’t nearly as sweet as the one offered in Community Court. According to Du Clos, it included one year of probation, 20 hours of community service or a $100 fine, and it required that she take a Theft Talk class costing $70.
For those who can’t afford it, the price is reduced to no less than $50, which the offender has to pay out of pocket. Jackie, again, entered a plea of “not guilty.”
The day before Jackie was scheduled for trial, the DA dropped the charge. “It was very reasonable of him to do that,” said Du Clos. “I’m not sure that every DA would have dropped the charges.”
Jackie has muscular dystrophy and receives disability checks, but she is still sleeping outdoors while she waits for housing she can afford with that income.
Her co-defendant’s case still is pending due to his failure to appear in court.
*Name changed to protect identity.
Courtesy of INSP News Service, Article by Emily Green / street-papers.org / Street Roots