DELAY OF GAME

Less than half of criminal cases in Multnomah County Circuit Court are resolved in a timely manner.

Court cases across Oregon are taking longer and longer to resolve. This has a variety of consequences, including the fact that pretrial defendants are spending more time behind bars.

It’s a particularly acute problem in Multnomah County, according to Oregon Judicial Department reports reviewed by WW. Less than half of criminal cases in Multnomah County Circuit Court are resolved within state “timely disposition” goals. Those benchmarks measure the percentage of misdemeanor and felony cases that resolve within 90 days and 180 days, respectively.

The goal is 90%. For felonies, Multnomah County is at 48%, the lowest rate of any county in the state. For misdemeanors, the Multnomah County issued more than $7 million in tax liens in recent years against Cazares, Mitchell and the companies they control.

In the past two months, three additional tax liens filed by the feds and the state add up to more than $4.2 million.

That’s significant because it shows that Cazares and Mitchell still aren’t paying much of their taxes, six months after WW first reported on the problem.

On Aug. 10, the IRS issued a $4 million lien against Mitchell. A breakdown of the lien: $1.8 million is for personal income tax for 2020, just over $1 million is for personal income tax in 2021, and the remaining amount is withholding taxes from 2020 and 2021 that were supposed to be transmitted to the feds from employees’ paychecks for things like Social Security and Medicaid.

Another federal lien issued to 503 Staffing LLC, one of Mitchell’s companies, on July 3 is for $46,670 from tax year 2022.

A lien issued by Oregon’s Department of Revenue on Aug. 3 to Mitchell and Cazares lists $201,308 in unpaid withholding and payroll taxes, among others.

New Mexico Expansion

More than 20 of La Mota’s Oregon dispensaries are still operational. (At least two have shut down since WW’s March 29 cover story.)

La Mota now has seven licensed cannabis locations in New Mexico, according to the state’s cannabis database. Mitchell, according to public records, owns four of the seven properties. It appears only two of them are operational, however, according to monthly sales data published by the state.

Sales reflected on that database would suggest La Mota’s rollout in the Land of Enchantment has been rocky.

La Mota’s dispensary in Clovis, an all-black structure tucked between industrial buildings, sold only $3,160 in product in July, according to the database. Another location in Albuquerque sold $12,112,347 in July.

But just last week La Mota got a cannabis manufacturing license approved by the state. Its address is listed as the site of a giant former furniture store in Albuquerque.

Cazares and Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment. SOPHIE PEEL.

Oregon Judicial Department rate is 37%—only Clatsop and Columbia do worse.

The goals were set in 2018 based on recommendations by the National Center for State Courts. “The intent is to encourage the fair disposition of cases at the earliest possible time,” the center says.

There are two major drivers of this trend, explains Multnomah County trial court administrator Barbara Marcille: the pandemic, when court proceedings slowed as everything transitioned online, and a reduction in misdemeanor filings.

“Those lower-level criminal cases typically resolve more quickly, and more are dismissed due to plea negotiations and diversion programs,” she tells WW. In other words, the court is dealing with a greater proportion of felony cases, which suck up more time, and leave fewer resources to mop up the misdemeanors.

But most misdemeanor cases resolved in 2022 were filed prior to 2021, she says. In short: The court is playing catch-up, and defendants are being forced to wait as a result. LUCAS MANFIELD.