Pubdate: Sun, 18 Mar 2001
Source: Times-News, The (ID)
Copyright: 2001 Magic Valley Newspapers
Contact:  P.O. Box 548, Twin Falls, ID 83303
Fax: (208) 734-553
Feedback: http://www.magicvalley.com/submit.html
Website: http://www.magicvalley.com/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

WHY IS ACCOUNTABILITY SO ELUSIVE IN THE EDEN CASE?

No one can deny that three men were shot to death Jan. 3 during a Jerome 
County sheriff's raid in Eden. And no one can deny that the state's 
official inquiry failed to hold anyone accountable for those deaths.

No conclusions have been announced about why they died or who is to blame. 
Nor are any in the works.

Because it was a sheriff's raid, the road to accountability leads straight 
to Sheriff Jim Weaver. Weaver wasn't planning on a drug raid when he came 
to work on Jan. 3; state police reports clearly show it was a 
spur-of-the-moment undertaking. By the time the day was over, two of his 
deputies and a Jerome County homeowner were dead.

What went wrong? Did Weaver act reasonably and prudently, or was he 
negligent? The Idaho State Police report doesn't reach a conclusion.

Weaver's information came from Mary Ann Taylor, a woman living with suspect 
Tim Williams. Though police and sheriff's deputies on the south side of the 
Snake River knew her to be an unreliable informant, Taylor nevertheless was 
the principal source of intelligence for the drug raid on Williams' house.

Williams -- who was virtually deaf -- started shooting when Weaver's 
deputies kicked open an interior door in his home and confronted him with 
weapons drawn.

Williams was armed, and he was jumpy, and he apparently had good reason to 
be. He had brawled with Taylor's ex-boyfriend not long before and feared 
another encounter.

It was a volatile mixture, yet Weaver chose to press ahead. And Williams, a 
likable guy with a single-action six-shooter, killed two of Weaver's 
deputies before dying himself.

The drug raid, by the way, yielded about $30 worth of marijuana.

Where was the big stash of drugs?

More importantly, where is the accountability for a sheriff's raid that 
went so terribly wrong?

The man who decided not to pursue criminal prosecution is Weaver's 
colleague in Jerome County government, Prosecutor John Nicholson. Though 
Nicholson followed a recommendation from the state attorney general's 
office, Idaho law gives local prosecutors almost absolute discretion in a 
case like this. The wisdom of that law is something the Legislature might 
want to reconsider.

Though accountability through conventional channels is proving elusive, 
there are other avenues. At the very least, Jerome County Coroner Gerald 
Ostler should conduct a coroner's inquest. Ostler says he wants to, but 
adds that he needs Nicholson's support.

Even if he goes forward, it's worth remembering that Ostler also works 
closely with the sheriff's office. So the impartiality of that 
investigation also could be called into question.

What's left?

A civil suit by Williams' survivors is likely, and other civil suits could 
be brought by survivors of the dead deputies. Those cases might go to 
trial, but hush-hush settlements from the state insurance fund are the most 
likely outcomes.

Money would change hands, but Idaho taxpayers would never know how much. No 
one would talk about the settlements, no one would admit guilt, and no one 
but a chosen few would ever know the details.

There's little accountability in that. So the final options involve the 
"r-words" -- recall or resignation.

Voters can turn Weaver out of office in the next election, more than 3 1/2 
years from now, or they can recall him from office. A recall effort already 
is under way, but it's unclear if there is enough momentum to strip the 
sheriff of his badge.

As an elected official, Weaver answers to no one except the voters. But the 
ability of voters to make an informed decision is limited by Weaver's 
reluctance to divulge information. As things stand, it's a stalemate -- and 
he's still the sheriff.

We endorsed Jim Weaver in the last election because we thought he was the 
best candidate for Jerome County sheriff. But his steadfast refusal to 
speak candidly about the Eden tragedy has eroded public confidence in local 
law enforcement.

Has he learned anything from this episode? Is he planning to make any 
procedural changes? If so, he hasn't told the people who pay his salary.

Smug in the security of his office, Weaver hasn't taken responsibility for 
the fact that three Jerome County residents died in a raid that he ordered 
and led.

Those in official circles apparently have no problem with this lack of 
accountability. If Jerome County residents want accountability, they will 
have to generate it themselves with a recall petition.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager