OREGON CITY, Ore. — Tommy Ross Jr. will not be returning to the Clallam County jail, at least for the time being.
In a Clackamas County Circuit Court courtroom Friday, Ross refused at a hearing to waive extradition proceedings that would have allowed his unchallenged return to Clallam County, opting instead to let an effort to stay the dismissal of first- and second-degree murder charges play out in the Washington state Court of Appeals.
Ross, 60, remained Sunday in the Clackamas County jail under a charge of fugitive from another state on $1.5 million bail.
The next court date for Ross is Dec. 21, for the return of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s warrant that would extradite him back to Clallam County, Clackamas County Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owen said Friday.
Ross was released Tuesday in Port Angeles after Clallam Superior Court Judge Brian Coughenour signed an order dismissing charges against him on grounds Ross’ constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated by Clallam County authorities.
Ross was charged with murder 40 years ago in the 1978 strangulation death of 20-year-old Janet Bowcutt of Port Angeles before then-Prosecuting Attorney Grant Meiner allowed him to be taken from Los Angeles to Canada to face murder charges in the strangulation death of 26-year-old woman — rather than have Ross be extradited to Clallam County.
After serving 38 years for the Canadian murder, Ross was arrested Nov. 15, 2016, at the Canadian border in Blaine on an arrest warrant that had been quashed, spent the next two years in the Clallam County jail awaiting trial, and was released Tuesday morning after Coughenour dismissed the Clallam County murder charges.
Ross was on his way to California on Tuesday afternoon when Oregon State Police, closing off the southbound lane of Interstate 5, re-arrested him in Clackamas County south of Portland on a new arrest warrant.
The warrant was based on state Court of Appeals Commissioner Aurora Bearse reinstating Ross’ conditions of release, including bail, on an emergency basis pending an Appeals Court ruling on the stay of the dismissal charges.
An argument responding to the motion to stay, filed by the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney, is due today but was filed Friday by Port Angeles lawyer Lane Wolfley, representing Ross.
Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols has filed a notice of appeal of Coughenour’s ruling to the state Court of Appeals.
In a 291-page request for the stay, deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steve Johnson said “a long line of cases” has held that defendants who have not previously asserted their right to a speedy trial during proceedings against them are unlikely to win a speedy trial claim.
Coughenour “seems to hold that Ross never had an obligation to assert his speedy trial right after his extradition to Canada in 1979,” Johnson said.
“This holding is contrary to the established line of cases cited [in the motion for a stay] and is not supported by the two cases upon which [Coughenour] primarily relied.”
Ross also waited two years after his 2016 arrest in Clallam County to make a motion to dismiss the case on speedy trial grounds, and after motions to dismiss or suppress evidence were denied, Johnson said.
In his memorandum of opinion, Coughenour said Clallam County authorities never tried to extradite Ross from Canada to face the murder charge.
“A defendant has no duty to bring himself to trial,” Coughenour said, citing a 1970 opinion from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, who said “the right to a prompt inquiry into criminal charges is fundamental and the duty of the charging authority.”
The 38-year delay in the proceedings covers between when Ross was charged in 1978 and his arrest in November 2016, Wolfley said in his motion responding to Johnson.
“Does Mr. Ross have to demand extradition or bring himself to trial where he never fled from the jurisdiction of the state, but was rather relinquished by the State to the foreign jurisdiction before his first appearance, etc.? No,” Wolfley said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
