the Gazette-Times is not a great source for local news that does not happen with 2 miles of the GT building, especially anything that happens in Salem. so for those of you who missed it, here's the Salem Statesman Journal's article on what turned up when court documents were released on Friday, Dec 16 -- it details how Salem police were looking for letters when they found meth in Kelley Wirth's car.
Police searched Wirth car for letters
Warrant issued to look for love notes, not meth, in legislator's car
PETER WONG
Statesman Journal
December 17, 2005
Salem police were looking for letters or other evidence of a relationship with a Capitol janitor, not illegal drugs, when they sought permission three months ago to search the car of former state Rep. Kelley Wirth.
The search turned up a small amount of methamphetamine, which led to the arrest of the Corvallis Democrat on Oct. 13 and her resignation on Nov. 15. She has pleaded innocent to one count of possession.
But according to the search warrant and related papers, which a Marion County judge unsealed earlier this week, Salem police were seeking something else when they obtained court permission to search Wirth's car after a Sept. 6 crash outside the Capitol.
Police were forced to obtain the warrant when Wirth, who was in a hospital for treatment of leg injuries resulting from the crash, declined to consent to a search. A police affidavit quoted her position: "There were things in her vehicle that she did not (want) to be discovered."
"When asked more about this information, she would not elaborate," police officer Scott Kofoid wrote in a Sept. 12 affidavit requesting the warrant.
On Sept. 6, Wirth was entering her 1994 Volvo, parked on Court Street NE, when she was struck by a Ford Thunderbird. The driver, Lisa Temple, has been charged with assault and attempted murder. She remains in jail without bail.
Temple asserted that Wirth was having an affair with her boyfriend, Fernando Mendez, then a janitor at the Capitol. Wirth has denied a sexual relationship.
Wirth was taken to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for treatment of a broken left leg and vascular damage to her right leg.
The search warrant, signed Sept. 12 by Judge Joseph Ochoa, authorized a search of Wirth's car not only for physical evidence of the assault but also "any written correspondence addressed to 'Fernando,' 'M.B.,' Lisa Temple, Fernando Lopez from Kelley Wirth."
The affidavit by Kofoid referred to previous police interviews with Wirth and Mendez, who referred to a confrontation Wirth had with him and Temple hours before the crash outside the Capitol.
According to the affidavit, Temple told Wirth, "I am going to (expletive deleted) kill you."
Mendez told police that letters from Wirth to him had been seized as part of a separate investigation by legislative officials. The state later disclosed the letters to police.
In one of the letters addressed to "Fernando," police said, "the victim (Wirth) clearly states that she and 'Fernando' were having sex."
Mendez quit his job Nov. 18 in a settlement with the state. He was paid $27,500 and agreed not to sue the state, although his lawyer has held open the possibility of a suit against Wirth.
"Based upon the fact the victim has written letters to Mendez and is denying their existence, and has admitted to delivering other correspondence via her vehicle, it is believed that there is likely to be more written correspondence supporting the fact she had a sexual relationship with Mendez located in the Volvo," Kofoid's affidavit said.
Ochoa's Sept. 12 order authorized a search for letters between Wirth and Mendez, or Wirth and Temple.
"The correspondence would support the fact the sexual relationship between the victim (Wirth) and Mendez existed and that the sexual relationship had been recently revealed to the suspect," he wrote.
What the police search turned up were a tin container, laptop computer and duffel bags "with miscellaneous items, papers and cosmetics."
The Marion County District Attorney's Office opposed disclosure of the search warrant and related papers, saying that they contained details of the investigation and might taint testimony of potential witnesses.
Wirth's lawyer, Janet Hoffman, did not oppose disclosure.
The papers were ordered unsealed Wednesday by Judge Joseph Guimond, who ruled on a motion filed by a lawyer for The Oregonian newspaper. The district attorney chose not to appeal the order.
pwong@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6745
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