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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Emergency Services Medford school officials consider costs of full-day kindergarten Family rallies help for Mexican community Preview of pot legalization plays out across Oregon border Since You Asked: County will consider pot tax Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency Services Family rallies help for Mexican community Emergency services Iron Mike loses his rifle ... again Emergency services Politics and Elections Kitzhaber embattled as he seeks fourth term Five compete for three council seats Jville Council Q&A: Brad Bennington Jville Council Q&A: Jim Lewis Jville Council Q&A: Ken Gregg Education Medford school officials consider costs of full-day kindergarten Foundation kicks off ambitious 'Count Me In' fundraising campaign 100 hours and counting SOU students protest university's free-speech zone Boys & Girls Clubs bursting at the seams Environment Work begins on Southern Oregon's first dedicated mountain bike trail Applegate Dam hydroelectric project dead in water Fear of orphaned cubs nixes new spring bear hunt Josephine County ballot measure would ban commercial and government pesticide use Low water exposes Emigrant Lake's past State news Nation - World Obituaries Marylen Agrell Kocks Lillian (Hulinsky) Kamarad Carol Erenst Reynolds Jay P. 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ELECTION 2014 Hoppe and Peterson at it again in Jackson County judge's race One touts experience, the other goals for a better court in runoff for circuit judge By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 17, 2014 @ 6:07 pm By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 17, 2014 @ 6:07 pm --> Adam Peterson Occupation: Circuit Court judge Background: Jackson County deputy attorney, 2006-13; special assistant to the U.S. attorney, 2012-13 Education: Creighton University ... » Read more X Adam Peterson Occupation: Circuit Court judge Background: Jackson County deputy attorney, 2006-13; special assistant to the U.S. attorney, 2012-13 Education: Creighton University School of Law, 2006; Willamette University, 2003. Prior experience: Southern Oregon High-Tech Crimes Task Force, 2010-2013; Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement Task Force, 2010-13; Jackson County Child Abuse Disciplinary Team, 2008-13; Juvenile Court Advisory Committee, 2007-2010.   David Hoppe Occupation: Prosecutor. Background: Jackson County deputy district attorney, 2000-present; Klamath County deputy district attorney, 1996-97. Education: Lewis and Clark Law School, 1994; University of Michigan, 1989. Prior experience: Sexual Assault Response Team, 2010-present; Jackson County Council Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, 2001-03 and 2010-present; Jackson County Multidisciplinary Team (child abuse cases), 2003-2010; Jackson County Sex Offender Supervision Network, 2003-2010; Klamath County DUII Task Force, 1996-2000.    » Social News In the race for Jackson County Circuit Court judge, the challenger is campaigning on his experience and the sitting judge's platform is based on new ways to make the criminal-justice system more effective and the community safer. The race between Circuit Judge Adam Peterson and Jackson County prosecutor David Hoppe is a spillover from a May campaign that saw accusations that Peterson puffed up his resume and that Hoppe was playing dirty politics. Peterson says he wants to be elected to the judgeship to which he was appointed last year so he can personally oversee expansion of court programs that help the mentally ill and shepherd potentially dangerous parolees in their safe reintroduction to the community. "You have to have a judge willing to take these on," Peterson says. "I'm owning them, absolutely. More than anything." Hoppe, 47, is pitting his 14-year career prosecuting hundreds of Measure 11 cases in Jackson County against Peterson's lack of handling such cases in Peterson's seven years as a prosecutor with Hoppe and one year as a judge. Hoppe points to the one and only murder case Peterson has tried as a prosecutor or a judge — a June case in which botched jury selection and other issues led to a switch in judges and a mistrial and almost saw Peterson called as a witness in the proceedings. "If the judge is causing mistrials in murder cases through a lack of experience, how is justice being gained in our courtrooms?" said Hoppe, who has 19 years of trial experience. "Trials are searches for the truth. If (a judge) is not competent in that, he shouldn't be in that position." Peterson, 33, asserts that Hoppe has waged an "unfounded political attack" over the mistrial but said he cannot comment on any specifics because the case is still pending. The two men are in a runoff election after outdistancing Medford attorney Bill Francis in May's election, but neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote as required in the nonpartisan race. Peterson initially presided over the murder case against Jose Valencia-Gaona, who was charged in the Sept. 1, 2013, slaying of 38-year-old Maria Guadalupe Rodriguez outside her Table Rock Road apartment. Peterson was still at the Jackson County District Attorney's Office when that office started prosecuting Valencia-Gaona, but he did not participate in the prosecution and was appointed by Gov. John Kitzhaber to the bench a month later. When Valencia-Gaona's case was shifted to Peterson's court, that overlap could have led to Peterson recusing himself from trying the case. According to court transcripts, Peterson had Valencia-Gaona grant him an oral waiver saying that he did not believe Peterson's presence at the prosecutor's office presented a conflict of interest. Right before the trial and after the jury had been empaneled, Peterson said in court that he needed a daily written waiver to continue, but Valencia-Gaona declined and Peterson recused himself from the case. Judge Tim Barnack immediately took over proceedings, according to a recording of the proceedings. Barnack then presided over the first morning of testimony when a juror was discovered holding an old witness list that was improperly given to prospective jurors during the onset of jury selection. The list was earlier provided to Peterson's office, but for court use only, according to transcripts. In a hearing a week before the trial, defense attorney Christopher Missiaen and prosecutor Virginia Greer told Peterson they planned to argue whether several of the potential witnesses on that list had allowable testimony. The attorneys said Peterson told them to agree which witnesses could be removed without requiring arguments before him in court. After doing so, they both submitted new witness lists, but Peterson's office gave the prospective jurors the initial list, transcripts show. Missiaen in court called the case "a mess" and asked for a mistrial, with Greer not arguing against it. "This witness list should not have been given to the jury," Greer said in court. Twice, Missiaen asked to put Peterson in the witness stand to question him over the botched list, but Barnack declared a mistrial and the matter was dropped, transcripts show. Valencia-Gaona was returned to the Jackson County Jail without bail. He now awaits a Jan. 26 trial. Hoppe said Peterson was responsible for the materials given to prospective jurors. "Lack of experience leads to things like this," Hoppe said. Peterson said ethical concerns have kept him from commenting on the case.  "I'd gladly lose a judicial race rather than not follow the law," Peterson said. Peterson is endorsed by several judges, ex-judges and former District Attorney Mark Huddleston, who hired both candidates as prosecutors. "I think that speaks volumes," Peterson said. Hoppe has offered no endorsements. In May, he said he believed judges should avoid endorsements, especially from people connected with the legal community. If elected, Peterson said he would set up a mental-health court and a similar court for parolees convicted on Measure 11 crimes to serve an "enhanced parole" that protects the community from new crimes and helps the parolee adjust to society. He also says he envisions the mental-health court to be like the current drug court, in which defendants are helped toward a clean and sober return to society. Peterson said the two changes would take "minimal" financing but need a judge to be responsible for holding them. He said it would add to his caseload but not to other circuit court judges' loads. In civil cases, Peterson said he wants to hire a court facilitator to help people in civil cases wade through the morass of paperwork, which helps them as well as speeds up court time. Currently, the court has one half-time facilitator in Jackson County, he said. Hoppe, who was the first attorney to be named Oregon Child Abuse Prosecutor of the Year, said as a judge he would give priority to cases in which children offer testimony so the cases don't drag on and cause more trauma to them. He also says he wants to fast-track domestic violence cases for similar reasons and to get treatment started faster. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman .                                                           By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 17, 2014 @ 6:07 pm » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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