Appeals court says tribal member was wrongly convicted

Monday, Aug. 10, 1998 | 1:48 a.m.

The Gardnerville man is free now, thanks to an Inter-Tribal Court of Appeals ruling that there was no probable cause hearing. The appeals court also said Washoe tribal police illegally searched James' house when they arrested him in July 1997.

James' lawyer, Joe Orzano, said prosecutors handled the case terribly.

"I never saw, even in law school, as many constitutional violations in one case as in this case," he said. "It's as if someone worked it out, 'How many violations can I make?"'

Tribal officers arrested James after hearing he had fired a rifle in the direction of two boys in his home, and that he planned some sort of battle with anyone who crossed him.

The officers said James was arrested without incident. But James said he wound up with broken ribs and other injuries.

The case prompted accusations that Tribal Chairman Brian Wallace and then-Tribal Police Officer Lionel Ahdunko were violating tribe members' rights, but that didn't stop the case against James from proceeding.

In September 1997, he was convicted by a jury of disorderly conduct, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, possessing a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was later sentenced to what amounted to a year and three months in prison.

But the appeals court recently ruled no probable-cause hearing was held, and officers illegally searched James' house for the rifle he was accused of firing.

Joyce McCauley, James' sister, says the court ruling proves that the charges about the constitutional violations were true. She also wonders who else has been victimized.