Alaska lawmaker calls for hiring more prosecutors and public defenders to reduce extreme delay in criminal cases
The House Judiciary Committee chair said stories by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica about sluggish court proceedings “stab my heart.” Fixing the problem will take more than a state Supreme Court order last year limiting new delays, he said.
Someone is getting away with Eunice Whitman’s killing. Alaska’s slow justice system let it happen.
Whitman was killed in Bethel in 2015, and no one has yet stood trial for her murder. Now, three years after the dismissal of a case against her boyfriend that was built on flawed evidence, authorities are starting from square one.
Bad evidence got him indicted on murder charges. He waited 7 years to walk free.
Justine Paul was accused of killing his girlfriend, Eunice Whitman. In Alaska’s slow-motion criminal justice system, he was kept behind bars even as the evidence against him fell apart.
Alaska vowed to resolve murders of Indigenous people. Now it refuses to provide their names
When the nonprofit Data for Indigenous Justice filed public records requests with the Alaska Department of Public Safety concerning cases it had investigated, the state rejected them.
Anchorage rebuilds prosecutor’s office after hundreds of criminal case dismissals
The city dropped more than 250 domestic violence assault cases and more than 270 drunken driving cases between May 1 and Oct. 2 last year. Now it says it has hired a full staff of 12 “frontline” prosecutors who will take cases to trial.
A 700% APR lending business tied to Dr. Phil’s son is dividing an Alaska tribe
Tribal lender Minto Money has boosted the economy of an Alaska village. But some tribal members are appalled by the millions it’s made off desperate borrowers — much of which, lawsuits allege, has gone to outsider Jay McGraw, son of Dr. Phil.
4 people, including children, killed when vehicle crashed through after-school center in Illinois, police say
Those killed were between the ages of 4 and 18, Illinois State Police said. Several other people were hurt and taken to hospitals.
Alaska Supreme Court places new limits on pretrial delays
The move follows an investigation by ProPublica and the Anchorage Daily News that found some cases have taken as long as a decade to reach juries, potentially violating the rights of victims and defendants alike.
Alaska State Troopers seek public’s help as they investigate 2020 killing of Kotzebue woman
Members of the troopers’ Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons unit traveled to Kotzebue this week to investigate the death of Susanna “Sue Sue” Norton, a spokesman said.
Alaska’s chief justice vows to reduce trial delays: ‘We must, and we will, improve’
Chief Justice Susan M. Carney’s comments follow Anchorage Daily News/ProPublica reporting that found the median time to resolve the most serious felonies in Alaska was three years in 2023 — triple the time it took a decade before.
The neverending case: How 10 years of delays have prevented a ‘horrendous’ sexual assault allegation from going to trial
Four judges have agreed to delay the trial more than 70 times in total. We pieced together a timeline of the delays using audio recordings and logs from every hearing.
Anchorage police say they witnessed a sexual assault in public. It took seven years for the case to go to trial.
In Alaska, where the time to resolve most serious felony cases has nearly tripled over the past decade, one case was delayed so long that both victims died. A former prosecutor called it “a travesty of justice.”
After the mass dismissal of Anchorage criminal cases, the state will assist in city prosecutions
The state’s offer of seven to 10 prosecutors comes days after the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica reported hundreds of cases were dropped since May because the city lacked prosecutors to hit court deadlines for speedy trials.
Hundreds of people charged with domestic violence, child abuse or DUIs are walking free in Anchorage
An effort to clear a backlog in the court system, combined with a lack of prosecutors, has led hundreds of people charged with an array of criminal misdemeanors in the city to have their cases dismissed without a trial.
Police say they won’t reopen case of Kotzebue woman found dead on mayor’s property
In an open letter, the Kotzebue police chief said Alaska state investigators reviewed the case of Jennifer Kirk’s 2018 death and found no new leads. But parts of the letter contradict information the department previously released about the case.
For families in Northwest Alaska, questions remain about unsolved deaths and ‘suicides’
Local law enforcement said there was only one official unsolved killing in Kotzebue. An Anchorage Daily News/ProPublica journalist who reviewed that case and others reports many residents suspect otherwise.
One woman died on an Alaska mayor’s property. Then another. No one has ever been charged.
Before they died, Jennifer Kirk and Sue Sue Norton were both victims of domestic violence, but the men involved — the ex-mayor’s sons — faced few consequences despite a long history of similar allegations.
Anchorage city commissioner charged with fraudulently obtaining $1.6 million in COVID-19 relief funds for her charity
Despite a history of fraud allegations, Rosalina Mavaega and her husband received one of the city’s largest awards under the American Rescue Plan Act. Prosecutors say the couple spent the funds buying cryptocurrency and on other personal uses.
Anchorage gave her a $1.6 million grant despite prior fraud allegations. Now she’s under investigation again.
Rosalina Mavaega was made a city commissioner and given a large grant to support her homeless services charity. Federal investigators are looking into her business dealings.
Former Anchorage library and fire worker sues city over discrimination, retaliation claims
The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court, includes claims of bullying and discrimination under former library deputy director Judy Eledge and makes allegations of race and sex discrimination at the Anchorage Fire Department.
In secret recordings, a top Anchorage library official calls Alaska Natives ‘woke’ and ‘racists’
Despite Judy Eledge’s history of inflammatory comments and social media posts, Anchorage’s mayor placed her in a key position in the city’s library and Alaska’s governor awarded her public money and a national role. What’s more, city and state agencies meant to protect Alaskans’ civil rights have been hamstrung.
Judge dismisses sex abuse case against Alaska’s former acting attorney general
Judge Peter Ramgren sided with the lawyer for Clyde “Ed” Sniffen, who argued too much time had passed for him to be charged with the alleged 1991 crime.
Alaska drops policy banning discrimination against LGBTQ individuals
On the advice of the state’s attorney general, Alaska’s civil rights agency quietly deleted language promising equal protections for LGBTQ Alaskans against most categories of discrimination, and it began refusing to investigate complaints.