With only days left on the bench, Wasco County Circuit Judge John Kelly has decided the time is right to reveal some of the secrets used to further the mystique of his profession.
“You have to steel yourself so that you are prepared to be disturbed by what you see or hear but you don’t look disturbed,” he said.
“It is our job, as judges, not to influence what the jurors do. And that is why 25-40 percent of judges spend time with their hand over their mouth or part of their face so that they can avoid showing any emotion.”
In a candid interview about his fast-approaching retirement, Kelly also reflected back on the 25 years spent overseeing trials that ranged from murder to custody disputes.
His toughest days in the courtroom involved cases where children had died or been injured at the hands of their parents or guardians. He vividly remembers the baby that was fatally shot in Sherman County and a toddler from Antelope that received a traumatic brain injury from abuse.
“Those cases are especially tough because, a lot of the time, there were people who could have prevented what happened but they missed the clues,” said Kelly.
He remembers the 1984 bioterrorism attack on The Dalles by followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho, an Indian mystic, as the most interesting time of his years in the elected office. In 1981, the cult set up headquarters at the Big Muddy Ranch in south Wasco County, which was renamed Rajneeshpuram and inhabited by about 7,000 people. Acrimony quickly developed between Rajneeshees and local authorities over the use of agricultural land for urban purposes. After taking over the government of Antelope, a town with about 50 residents, by sheer voting numbers, some Rajneesh officials decided that the best way to change the land use rules in their favor was to gain control of two county commission seats in an upcoming election.
To incapacitate local voters, they sprayed salmonella into salad bars at 10 restaurants in The Dalles and sickened 710 individuals, with 45 of these patients hospitalized. No one died during the attacks and two leading Rajneeshpuram officials ended up serving time in prison for the crimes
“That was a hugely fascinating time in our history,” said Kelly, a native of The Dalles.
He had been in office only two months before being faced with a lawsuit to seize the assets of the Rajneesh to pay for the judgments against them. He was spared ruling on the issue when the Oregon Attorney General intervened and determined that the assets could not be transferred. The Bhagwan was later found guilty of immigration violations and deported.
“It was intimidating, but when you get to do something that big, it’s just fun,” said Kelly.
He earned his bachelor of arts degree from Oregon State University before being hired as a substitute teacher over shop classes in Corvallis. Since he had majored in English, Kelly was unsure how to instruct students in the building trades when he had no experience in that field.
“I asked what I was supposed to do and was told to pick up the fingers when we were done,” he quipped.
It didn’t take Kelly long to learn that teaching was not his profession of choice and he started law school at the age of 24. He and his bride, Debbie, a physical therapist, moved to Spokane, Wash., where he attended Gonzaga University and then worked for eight years in his first law firm.
Kelly then returned to The Dalles with his family, which included daughter Erin, who now holds a doctorate in forestry management and lives in Newfoundland, and son, Daniel, a marketing specialist in Chicago, Ill. He hung out his shingle with attorney Meredith Van Valkenburgh and handled criminal law, divorces and any other legal need of local residents.
In 1985, he donned the robe of one of the judges within the 7th Judicial District, a 110-mile territory that extends from Hood River to Fossil and covers five counties. He compared the job of a judge in a criminal matter to assembling a puzzle. He said all of the pertinent facts and evidence needs to be assembled so the jury can form a picture about what happened in the incident.
“I like people, I like stories and I get a lot of people telling stories in this job, so that is a pleasure,” he said. “Most of the people that I have dealt with in criminal cases were not evil; they just had problems that were hard to solve.”
During his tenure, Kelly has been physically threatened by people angry with a ruling; something that he has just accepted as part of the job.
“Sometimes people have trouble understanding that it’s not between me and them; it’s between them and the law and I represent the law,” he said.
“But if you keep it at a professional level, most people really don’t end up getting that angry with you.”
He said the situation in the courtroom can take a departure from reality in cases involving mental illness that can require his full concentration to corral.
“I’ve even met the ‘Queen of Switzerland’ during a commitment hearing,” he said.
There are cases, many civil, that involve a tedium factor, acknowledged Kelly, but he has developed a routine for keeping himself alert when presiding over these hearings.
“If I feel like I’m about to fall asleep, I say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I have to take a break because I’m expecting a call,’ and then I come into my office and sleep for 10 minutes,” he said.
Over the years, he said there have been many regrets; times when he was forced to rule by the law when he wanted to give a lesser sentence.
“Sometimes what you have to do doesn’t seem fair but he law says you have to do it,” he said.
Kelly has this advice for incoming judge Janice Stauffer, who will take his position, and John Kelly, who replaces Bernie Smith, who is also retiring on Jan. 1: “Be patient and be yourself. If you are stern, then be stern – and fair – and things will work for you. There are a lot of different ways to do it right.”
Kelly relocated to Hood River three years ago because that community offered him the best deal on a piece of land on which to build a retirement home. He is required to work 35 days out of the first year of retirement as a judge, which he believes will help with the transition away from his career. He enjoys reading crime novels, hiking, golfing and playing basketball and ping pong, but is unsure what other venture that he will pursue during his leisure hours.
“My guess is, in about a year, I’m going to need to do something to have altruism in my life so I’ll have to find something that suits my interests,” he said.
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