Home Baseball Luke Heimlich Through the Eyes of a Washington Attorney

Luke Heimlich Through the Eyes of a Washington Attorney

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This morning I received the following document. It’s the LH case through the eyes of an attorney.

The email states as follow:

Good Morning AB,  Attached is an article I’ve written regarding the disclosure last spring of Mr. Heimlich’s involvement with the Washington State Juvenile Justice act when he was 15 years old and his subsequent self disqualification from the CWS.  

1)  I have no particular affiliation with OSU  I only got interested in OSU baseball after a friend and client of mine took me to a game in Corvallis before this story broke.  

  2)  I love baseball.

  3)  I am in my 30th year as a practicing lawyer in Thurston Co. WA.  I  represented 1000’s of youth in the early years of my practice accused of committing offenses ranging from Murder 2 to Minor in Possession of Tobacco.  

  4)  My son is a Duck.

Any questions don’t hesitate to give me a call.

Here is the entire document.

Vigilante Journalism and Administrative Malpractice

The Troubling Case of Oregon State’s Luke Heimlich

By Martin D. Meyer

            In their newly found eagerness to expose collegiate sports malfeasance, reporters risk overreacting to, or misrepresenting the legal nuances that surround the conduct of juvenile offenders. This is exactly what occurred in the case of Luke Heimlich, a baseball pitcher for Oregon State University.

The “lack of institutional control” in high-powered athletic programs in our nation’s universities has been well chronicled. It is impossible to defend the lack of administrative oversight shown in such infamous episodes as the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State, the serial sexual assaults by members of Baylor University’s football team, or the gymnastics program at Michigan State. The generally pliant reporting by the sporting press facilitated such troublesome and indeed criminal behavior but these situations are not analogous to Heimlich, who was wronged by journalists who employed, and other journalists who continue to employ, legal terms applicable to adult criminal proceedings and completely inapplicable to the Washington juvenile offense context. This was compounded, and to a degree facilitated by, his university administration’s failure to understand these same distinctions. OSU was slow to come to Heimlich’s defense which forced him into the difficult decision to remove himself from the team when they were on the verge of playing in the College World Series. Uninformed journalists filled a vacuum created by administrative nonfeasance with sensationalized and misleading reporting using such terms as “sex crime,” “crime,” “conviction,” “convicted felon,” and “felony conviction” while speaking of a juvenile offense Mr. Heimlich was accused of committing in the state of Washington when he was 15 years old.  These are terms solely applicable to adults charged with committing crimes, not juveniles.

On June 8, 2017, Portland’s Oregonian and its online platform OregonLive published an article by Danny Moran and Brad Schmidt, respectively the paper’s beat reporter for Oregon State athletics and an investigative journalist, titled “Luke Heimlich sex crime surfaces as Oregon State baseball nears College World Series.” In their story Moran and Schmidt describe how “a crime surfaced from a star player’s past.” The newspaper’s inflammatory and prejudicial characterization of Heimlich’s legal status bodes ill for the future of juvenile jurisprudence and its professed goals of rehabilitating youthful offenders.

The headline’s use of the phrase “sex crime” may have been effective at drawing attention to the story, but it was mistaken and its effect was turbocharged by the correlation to the team’s postseason prospects. That fact alone led some commentators on the newspaper’s website to charge that the external circumstance of Oregon State’s on-field success, and not any underlying judicial findings, stoked journalistic interest.

The story itself was replete with phrasing that completely miscast Heimlich’s actual standing before the law. Moran and Schmidt referred to his August 2012 “felony conviction” and questioned whether athletes who have “committed felonies” should be allowed to play for the university. They pondered the question of whether Oregon State should require applicants to the university “to disclose criminal conviction[s] during the admissions process” and their story questioned the wisdom of “allowing convicted felons to enroll and play college sports.”

Moran and Schmidt, in a complete misreading of the actual court proceedings in Washington’s Pierce County, referred to Heimlich’s “first degree Class A felony” for child molestation. This error was compounded when the newspaper, anticipating the furor their coverage would precipitate, simultaneously published an “Editor’s Notebook” explaining “Why we published Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich’s felony conviction.” This essay, authored by Mark Katches, also referred to Heimlich’s “felony count of child molestation.”

In the tumult that followed, the university resisted calls to dismiss Heimlich from the team, but he withdrew from play so as not to become a distraction for his teammates at the College World Series. At the tournament in Omaha, #1 seed Oregon State finished in third place.  More importantly, Heimlich, who before the disclosures was heavily reported to be a first round choice in the Major League Baseball draft scheduled that same week, was not selected in any of the three dozen rounds. This series of events did grave damage to the utility and promise of juvenile adjudication, especially within the education context.

Oregon State’s decision to admit Heimlich was fully consistent with federal guidelines issued by the Department of Education (DOE) on how to increase access to higher education. Had the reporters understood Washington law as it relates to juvenile offenders,  or read and actually understood the 2016 US Department of Education report (“Beyond the Law”) provided by OSU spokesman Steve Clark, or the National Juvenile Justice Network’s “Caldwell study” they cite in their article, they should have given serious consideration to NOT publishing this article at all.  Luke Heimlich is not now, nor has he ever been convicted of a crime, committed a felony, or possess a prior felony conviction. The Oregonian’s news coverage effectuated what Washington’s juvenile rehabilitation program was specifically trying to avoid in Heimlich’s case.

If the reporters from The Oregonian could have resisted their impulse to print a story when it would achieve maximum visibility, they might have had time to learn about the law in the state of Washington governing youthful offenders until age 18 as set forth in RCW 13.40 et. seq. The stated purpose of Washington’s Juvenile Justice Act (JJA) is to treat juveniles differently than adult offenders would be handled for the same crime. (See RCW 13.40.010 et. seq.) The statute’s more specific objective, and one central to the Heimlich case, is to avoid stigmatizing a youthful offender for the rest of his life.  Providing rehabilitation and reintegration is an expressed goal of the JJA as set forth at RCW 13.40.010 (2) (f). This is the primary difference from the adult criminal arena where the sole purpose of the law is punishment of the offender.The state of Washington is always the plaintiff in a juvenile offender proceeding, or an adult criminal proceeding for that matter, because society’s aim is justice, not vengeance.  Certain reporters and columnists for the Oregonian supplanted the prerogatives of the state of Washington and became unto themselves an illegitimate judge and jury by exacting vigilante vengeance against Heimlich through a rite of public humiliation.This has led to innumerable ill-informed commentators to do the same.

It was wrong and misleading for the Oregonian to use the words “criminal” and “felony” and similar terms when referring to Mr. Heimlich’s juvenile offender proceeding. Under Washington law, and as applicable to Heimlich’s case, juveniles are NOT considered criminals nor are they convicted of crimes.  Rather, they are adjudicated of having committed offenses which would constitute a crime if committed by an adult.  RCW 13.40.020 (21) specifically defines “Offense” and RCW 13.40.070 references a county prosecuting attorney’s authority to screen complaints as “offenses.” In such cases, offenders are not referred to as a “defendant” in relevant pleadings but are named as a “respondent.” See RCW 13.40.020(25).

Katches said his newsroom pondered whether “Heimlich paid for his crime and completed his sentence” and suggested that some “may argue that mistakes made by a minor should be forgiven, considering that studies show juvenile sex offenders rarely commit additional sex crimes after sentencing.” In Katches non-expert opinion “juvenile sex crimes should follow offenders into adulthood” unless “released from their obligation to register with authorities and they show a judge . . . that they no longer pose a threat to public safety,” again using inapplicable terms to a juvenile setting.

Even so, did Heimlich meet that standard? As a juvenile respondent did Heimlich pay his debt to society? According to Washington state law, yes. Under Washington’s Special Sex Offender Disposition Alternative (SSODA), pursuant to RCW 13.40.162, Heimlich had long since successfully completed treatment and followed all the terms of his probation and court supervision. SSODA is a very rigorous process, not merely the “two years of counseling and classes” that Moran and Schmidt cited.  Justice had long been served in this case by the time of publication of Mr. Heimlich’s prior involvement with the Washington Juvenile Justice Act.

Kerry Eggers recent article in the Portland Tribune highlights the extreme complexities a 15 year old accused of an intra-familial sex offense must face.  Juveniles accused of any criminal offenses in Washington are not afforded jury trials.  The accused youth, facing substantial commitment of time to a Juvenile institution and civil registration requirements, must make very difficult decisions on how to proceed and are often influenced very heavily by family members with very different objectives.

Heimlich was successfully rehabilitated and reintegrated into society by virtue of his successful completion of a rigorous treatment and evaluation under SSODA and subsequent deportment. Since his discharge he has excelled academically, socially, and yes, athletically, without any hint of offending behavior including any sexual offense.  Heimlich is a textbook example of Washington’s JJA performing exactly as the legislature intended.

Notwithstanding Heimlich’s procedural lapse in the spring of 2017, which allegedly tripped initial media interest in his case, the Caldwell study cited by Schmidt & Moranquestions whether requiring juvenile offenders to register is truly beneficial to society.  This is an important question considering the difficulties attendant upon carrying that obligation into adulthood when such issues impinge on prospects for employment, (i.e. pitching at the major league level), housing, or even post-secondary education as has now occurred in this case.  These civil registration requirements are what Heimlich got entangled with, since there was uncertainty over whether he had to register inOregon when he turned 21. As the DOE report mentioned above instructs, criminal justice inquiries “may result in a broad chilling effect or overbroad exclusion of students.” Indeed, the DOE’s specific best-practice guidance to college applicants reads: “If you have been adjudicated as a juvenile delinquent or have youthful offender status, you should respond to the felony question [on your college application] by checking ‘no.’” (U. S. Department of Education, “Beyond the Box,” Washington, DC, 2016, p. 23). Thus, if Heimlich was asked on his college entrance application whether or not he had ever been convicted of a crime, his answer “NO” would have been completely lawful and truthful.

The Heimlich case prompts another, more overarching, question: If juvenile offenses are to precipitate adult-level consequences for a lifetime, why have juvenile adjudication at all? This leads to the other exacerbating aspect of the journalists’ failure to read and comprehend the reports they cited, and their failure to understand Washington state law as applicable to juvenile offender proceedings, yet proceeded to publish anyway. The case came to their attention due to Heimlich’s civil obligation to register his address for a minimum of 60 months post-adjudication, this after he had already successfully completed all terms of his dispositional order and had been discharged from probation.  The full thrust of the 2016 Caldwell Study is to make youths, or adults who as youths, committed sexual offenses exempt from public notification and residency registration laws. (Sex Offense Registration and Related Laws: Treating Youth Fairly, National Juvenile Justice Network, 2016.) This article cites research showing that these registration requirements imposed on youthful offenders who have successfully rehabilitated themselves and become reintegrated into society provide NO public safety benefits. In fact, these obligations usually expose the affected youth and their communities to greater harm. This report states that notwithstanding the low recidivism rate cited by the journalists, affected youth and their families are often targets of violence; ostracized; denied education, housing and jobs; and frequently suffer from depression, isolation, and suicidal ideation, a finding consistent with the US Department of Education study mentioned above. For Luke Heimlich to himself to remove himself from positive pro-social activity forcibly isolated himself from his teammates and the activities surrounding the College World Series was the worst possible outcome and contrary to reigning social science theory.

Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the original Moran/Schmidt story is that the authors gave little, if any, thought to what this new round of publicity surrounding a successfully adjudicated case would do to the child, a child whose mother states “doesn’t really remember everything that happened.”

By all accounts, Mr. Heimlich properly was held accountable by the Washington Juvenile Justice Act and did everything asked of him. By every measure he had successfully reintegrated himself into society.  He has notbeen accused of committing any new offense, he has excelled academically, socially, and athletically. Steve Clark and the OSU administration failed Luke Heimlich by not offering a completely justifiable defense. For all the reasons stated in the US Department of Education Study and the Caldwell Report cited and ignored by the Oregonian’s reporters, compounded by their ignorance of how Washington State Law treats youthful offenders, Luke Heimlich should have played in the 2017 College World Series.  He should have been drafted by a major league baseball team.

Only the future will tell what needless damage vigilante journalism and administrative incompetence have done to the Heimlich family.

235 COMMENTS

    • He had 21 days from each incident to request in written form that the Groanian (or Dolphin Boy’s radio station, which took money from pimps who slaved children in order to enrich themselves and Dolphin Boy) retract all defamatory statements in as equally consequential a space or spaces that they gave the original infraction(s). So a headliner above the fold can’t be retracted on page 6 of the garden center in one small sentence and still satisfy good faith in correcting your civil crime.

      I don’t know if LH did that, or, if he did, the Groanian had the hubris to think they would ignore such a letter. It certainly felt like they had tunnel vision and thought the train’s light was the end at the time.

      I don’t really see the admin as at fault here. The worst case was going to occur given the timing. All they could do was pass out the correct info and hope someone in the mob would put down their pitchfork long enough to read it. Otherwise, there are a lot of dumbshits in this world who like to complain about this using methods that completely ignore that they live in a society with centuries of social doctrine and cultural ethos… or perhaps they’re frauds and chiselers and realize that the number of dumbshits out there who do this can be led to form a mob, which would wield individual power and profit for themselves. Asking the rest of the team to withstand that for the sake of one would be the just thing to do, but it wouldn’t be the right thing to do given the distraction it would inevitably cause. And that doesn’t even speak to the safety aspect, which comes into play when dumbshits are involved.

        • Are y’all too conflicted about this one?

          It’s not that hard, given the subjects and what they have historically done. It’s also not strange for th regulators to be corrupted by the corrupt power they seek to mitigate.

    • “TLDR” precisely the problem with the Heimlich story, social media in general, the rush to judgement and the lazy clickbait crapola put out by the fools at the Oregonian. Headlines are the entirety of what people can consume.

  1. Sadly, most people won’t read this or anything beyond the original Oregonlive headline. It was intended to be damaging and it was successful in causing damage. Mission accomplished.

    • Not sure causing damage was the mission, at least not the entire mission. Of course there is the riding high horse and self aggrandizement factor, but perhaps more important for a failing enterprise like the O, clickbait seems to be the real goal. And again, they found success.

      • While the O’s intent might not have been to cause harm to Luke and his family, they knew exactly what the impact would cause. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what their intent might have been…damage done…libelous and defamation of character.

        • With regard to a lawsuit, my understanding is that intent doesn’t matter with libel/slander. It’s just the result of whether it caused tangible damages (in this case yes, and obvious given the draft issue). The “truth” does protect people against libel and slander, but in this case Moran didn’t print the truth. Seems like a slam dunk case on the surface but law is tricky.

          • I don’t think that’s correct. I think intent has a lot to do with defamation. Otherwise, people would end up getting in 4000 lawsuits because a comedian said something about them once or twice. But it can easily be argued with precedents that the overwhelming ignorance of some reporting can rise to intent due to negligence.

          • Apparently we’re both wrong… and correct. There are two tests for defamation. One is malice. The other is quantifiable damages. The difference I was thinking of had nothing to do with malice. Instead, it has to do with the severity of the defamation rising above a monetary value and simply defaming their character. The latter is called defamation per se.

            All the articles I read always included two consistent examples of this, so I’m guessing the precedents are well known by lawyers and judges alike. Those two examples are falsely stating that someone has committed a crime/felony and falsely stating that someone has what is called a lonesome disease. You can probably deduce what is meant by a disease that makes one lonesome.

          • From what I understand, malice is concerning mostly the distinction between defamation and art (comedy, movies, etc.) in its various media. It’s why movies have disclaimers at the end which claim any likeness to anyone real is unintended… and that this is just a movie.

          • If its a case that goes for damages, it really doesnt matter what the intent was. The trick is that the jury decides what is needed. A legal secretary friend, in a personal damages law office, says you would be amazed. Juries sometimes decide on their own to give more than what is asked for. This case should be pursued. At the least it would get such as Angry’s material from a lawyer out in the public view and so cast a very different opinion on what the Oregonian has done. And I bet a $$$ settlement would be the result.

      • That’s a good question. Of course it wasn’t the the whole of the mission. But was it more than just the catalyst? The more salacious they were, I supposed they were stuck in a negative feedback loop which justified their actions. But it’s possible the pursuit of profit led to well-informed decisions to seek this exact outcome because the risk analysis said it was feasible.

        Where there are no regulators, it’s always easier to pay a small fine and ask forgiveness than it is to seek profit.

    • Would make for an interesting death pool. Who would you put money on the go first?
      Tracy has age going against her compared to the others.
      Moran loses approximately 10 years for being a male.
      Schnell is the mystery candidate though, with the almost certain cardiac issues which could arrive at any moment.
      Smart money is on Schnell.

      Happy Valentine’s Day!

    • This reply made its way onto Brave Brenda’s feed as a real threat to her safety. Her new thing is internet threats. Begs the question, did she take enough time to dismount her sanctimonious pony to gain legal perspective? No because it doesn’t jive with her message.

  2. I can’t believe he hasnt already filed a libelous suit against Moran, Schmidt, canzano and the O. It’s clear those articles have resulted in significant and potentially permanent harm to Luke…i wish I was an attorney…id take his case pro Bono.

      • And there you go….I knew something like that would be posted. It was just a matter of time. I wonder why Brenda Tracy show the same level of moral indignation and John Canzano given JC’s history with the DolphinII Strip Club. I guess associating with a strip club that was involved with human trafficking of a minor for prostitution where the owner is now serving 15-20 years, is not a serious enough crime for JC and Tracy to get angry about.

    • I’m sure he would love to sue them, but at the same time he just wants this story to go away. Filing a lawsuit would just bring this back to the front page. That’s what makes this situation so bad. The paper puts out a BS story and the target of the story, for valid reasons, is so unlikely to fight back.

        • That may be but I would be very surprised if there are not attorneys contacting Heimlich and wanting to take his damages case. This looks to be money in the bank for any good attorney. Take it on a % and laugh all the way to the bank.

  3. A side topic, but this is why blogs are becoming the mainstream media. People with information or perspective contrarian or even damaging to the mainstream narrative have an outlet. My guess is government will step in and protect the industry from blogs over time by holding bloggers to reporting standards. That will happen before the mainstream sites stop sensationalizing for clicks.

  4. The Oregonian is selectively censoring comments that reference the Eggers story, the reference to this article however seems to remain. The Oregonian is no longer a bastion of free speech. They continue to censor content that does not agree with their narrative, or their beliefs.

  5. Yep.. i’ve had my own comments deleted on O-Live previously. One was a reference to Eggers’ story, I think I made a snarky comment another time about Moran running background checks.

    • I too, have had comments deleted in the past. Surprisingly, my comment today with a link to this thread is still up after 6 whole hours!

        • Ok, makes sense. Did you tweet it to Brenda Tracy also? This has frustrated me from the beginning because it is all about the application of the law as it applies to juveniles. How can the media just ignore that fact?

          • Brenda Tracy now has celebrity. Her latest tweet about violent sex offenders and felony records doesn’t apply in either instance to LH, is neither a violent sex offender nor does he have a criminal record.

            Aside from that, if she comes to visit Mike Riley sometime and it hits the papers, I will truly gag. A lot.

          • Mike Riley thinks that poisoning someone and gang-raping them over several hours is just a mistake that was made. Why is he forgiven for not being a man, even in the dark ages of the last millennium? Is it because of the Jesus and God stuff? Brenda Tracy seems to find that distraction suitable for her needs unless the grandparents of a survivor claim it.

          • What spectacular blinders BT must have. Poor thing is chocked full of conflicts.

            She tweets a video of a Stanford event that starts with how she was raped by four football players and how they only received a slap on the wrist, yet she cozies up to, and lauds, the idiot that gave the players the slap on the wrist, MR.

            She saddles up with Clownzano on his high horse with tirades against LH, the same radio host/reporter who made his house payments with money gathered from minors trafficked for sex.

            At this point she sounds like a junk yard dog barking and snapping at any movement in the air, yet can’t see the ones feeding her are the same person who made her the way she is.

          • Well, you guys are learning nuance.

            So there’s that.

            You still have so far to go. You should start with a concerted effort to change your vernacular. It reeks of stale, one-dimensional thought. It’s like trying to read an explanation of algebra when the author eschews the use of variables… because that’s ivory tower/PC/SJW language.

          • And I’m not saying I’m immune to this. I’ll be in a conversation where I just rake some stupid shit over the coals begun by his own terminology, and I’ll use his terminology to do it. But then I’ll go to another site I frequent and forget that I need to unwind from the stupidity before I post anything.

            The language is extremely noticeable.

    • Did you find out anything else about Moran’s phone call to the attorney? I find it interesting. Day late and a dollar short though for Danny to be learning about juvenile adjudication. Maybe he was calling out of fear? Do you know if Moran was kicked off the Beaver baseball beat like some have suggested?

  6. Only good thing I can say about the whole disaster= it didn’t explode at the end of regular season in LH’s senior year, after which he would have no chance to get back on the field.

  7. Casey should take his own stand and not allow Oregonian into the facility. Namely Moran. I still can’t believe that OSU hasn’t taken steps toward forcing them to admit how inaccurate/slanderous/sloppy/malicious the reporting was last spring. Maybe the team has a silent agreement to simply freeze out moran, by stopping any interview if he is present. The team has the ability to send the message and OSU wouldn’t miss much by losing coverage from the oregonian anyway. They have proven that clicks are more important than the truth to them, so let them get clicks from somewhere else.

    • I think our whimpy OSU administration has probably already advised Casey not to pull any stunts. My feel is OSU is willing to sacrifice LH as long as it just all goes away. Why, it’s not about the money, it’s just about the money.

      • That makes no sense whatsoever.

        And if OSU did tell Casey not to pull any stunts, it would be because we are a public institution with a mandate to educate the public. Censorship by exclusion is just dumb. You can disallow individual or unchaperoned access, which I suggest they do anyway. But you can’t exclude them from general pressers.

        And it’s really easy to embarrass and inform bullies when they’re present. You think Casey is going to back down from one? I can imagine him waiting patiently for some Groanian reporter to wind through some meta-question only to get a cold death stare for five seconds and a one word answer… or an, “It’s not proper for me to comment on a juvenile adjudication in some other state. Information the University has deemed proper regarding these things has been distributed to your management on multiple occasions. So I would refer you to them for all answers.”

        • I think Jack has a pretty good feel for how Casey will handle things. He is no laid back, gum chewing nice guy, he is a competitive winner; big difference.

          I imagine Casey has already given his players instructions on how to handle inquiries, he is a teacher of things outside of baseball. Warts and all.

  8. Maybe Beaver Nation should make a chant of some sort geared towards Moran every time Luke throws a strike. That would make headlines.

    DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NNY
    DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NNY
    DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NNY

  9. Moran is an idiot, but I also agree with the author that the administration seriously failed Luke. Shame on they for capitulating without doing the research. They certainly had the resources to understand an explain Washington law to the public.

      • Maybe Danny’s background checker was limited to the one source who brought the LH story to him on a silver platter, aka the sister-in-law, and now he’s run out of “baseball” material?

          • Also, in defense of OSU’s administration, this was a bolt for which there would have been no preparation whatsoever, no policy manual page that gave guidance. I think less was better than public statements that later needed floundering explanations.

    • Ron Richmond from the Register Guard is actually covering Beaver baseball for the Oregonian. Yes, this is because the team wants nothing to do with Moran. I imagine Moran will still “cover” beaver baseball as much as one can by simply watching a game, but the days of his in depth baseball stories are over.

      • Why would those days be over?

        He can make up any old story at any time. If he goes to one fo the buildings behind Goss, there’s a reading room named after someone who made up a decent story about baseball. Maybe he can find some inspiration there.

  10. Ms. Tracy: if you’ve started reading the blog I’d like to say by and large I support you and the movement. Throughout history men have had built in advantages and many have used their power to exploit women. I think it’s great that sexual predators are being outed, and a new conversation has begun encouraging equality and setting a precedence on proper behavior for those lacking the knowledge and/or set of inherent morals to Make he right decisions on how to treat people on their own.

    That being said: In this new society where everyone feels the need to weigh in instantly as things unfold on social media before the facts come out, it would be refreshing to see people admitt their initial reaction was based on the information presented At the time, and after re-evaluating they over reacted. Doing so would give you more credibility. Sticking to your guns does the opposite.

    • I imagine that someone who has gone through what Brenda has gone through has a tough time with gray areas. In her mind you are either a preditor or you’re not, and once a preditor always a preditor, and all preditors must burn in Hell. She likely doesn’t give a shit what the law says in these cases because the law failed her. I’m by no means saying she’s right in LH’s case, but I highly doubt she will ever loosen the hard line she has drawn.

  11. Did I read that correctly on Twitter that Kendall Rogers is still “waiting for the facts” regarding the Heimlich case? WTF? There are no more facts, if this had been handled fucking correctly we wouldn’t know this situation even existed. Why is this so hard to understand?

    • Yeah I didn’t understand his comment.
      Unless he means the rumors that Luke never even committed this crime and just pleaded to get out of it. Not sure how that would be proven at this point.

        • Correct.

          That’s why it was a smart thing for everyone to shut the hell up while the teacup raged. They blew their whole wads, and now we can systematically make them eat their sucky words, actions and attitudes.

    • Ryan Day was the guy I wanted OSU to add to the candidate pool for HC and see if he would interview….he’s at $1M as OC, Jonathan Smith is at what, $1.75?

      • According to those numbers, tOSU only thinks Schiano is P5 head coaching material right now. Everyone else is getting numbers that keep them from taking G5 dogs or P5 assistant positions. Even Wilson isn’t valued as a HC, and they got him on the rebound from Indy.

    • Fuck the NCAA. At the regional last year they tried to deny me entry to the regional because I didn’t have a ticket for my infant (3 months old at the time) who was strapped to my chest. They are concerned with this minor BS but let MSU, UNC and Miami make a mockery of the system. 85% of the teams in the NCAA are screwed by the NCAA. When will they band together to drive change?

      • Another example: at the WBB regional in Corvallis the NCAA had the power to forbid fans from bringing in their own, sealed, off the shelf water. Even though that is permitted during the regular season, when OSU/PAC sets the rules.
        Not a big deal, and easily circumvented by a desperado such as myself. A little more difficult to conceal a 3 month old!

    • I mentioned above that Riley has a history on this program, possibly a friendship with the hosts. I don’t know how draconian a leader JS is and how much leeway he gives his underlings. Styles differ.

  12. Riley is on. First minute is nails on a chalkboard.

    Talking about how they’re all entrenched at their jobs and Mike is riding his bike to work again.

  13. Oh no, Riley says Smith has closed the door and asked him questions about things. Riley in Smith’s ear…Petersen is out of sight/out of mind and the prodigal grandpa is his influential mentor.

  14. All that has been suspected is confirmed. The media will chase Riley quotes for everything OSU football related, based on old chummy relationships. JS hasn’t seen the issue by now and likely won’t. Incredible that it is going to be this way. My only expectation is the dynamite improvement of a Tibesar Defense will be undermined by too many cooks in the kitchen on offense eventually giving way to the Riley effect and no real identity.

    • One of the cautions on Smith was that he’s an introvert. I wonder if he actually is comfortable with Riley getting the attention? I don’t think that would be a good thing, just suggesting it’s a possibility.

  15. This ongoing narrative is getting very stale. Riley’s there and nothing that’s been posted will change that. AB, go ahead and categorize me wherever you want on your profiling categorization. Let’s look forward and yip next year on facts/record.

  16. I’ll let you decide. If it takes explanation it’s not worth explanining. But then again you’re one of the more obtuse people on the site.

  17. OT, but UW with some QB riches (excerpts from an S-I article):

    Jake Browning is back as a senior with three years of starting experience;

    4* Colson Yankoff is ranked as high as 6th among dual-threat passers;

    4* recruit Jacob Sirmon is ranked as high as sixth among pro-style passers;

    Yankoff and Sirmon will spend the upcoming season learning under Browning while getting ready to battle recently announced Georgia transfer Jacob Eason, a 2016 5* recruit out of Lake Stevens (Wash.) High, for the starting job.

    Damn – Smith couldn’t pull one of Yankoff or Eason with the promise of immediate playing time? (Sirmon was a UW guy all the way apparently). Or the hyphen UW grad transfer?!?

    I know rankings aren’t everything and aren’t always accurate. but Petersen/UW is killing it at the QB position. That’s an impressive amount of depth.

    Smith better be able to get two “authentic” 3*+ QBs committed in the next cycle. (“authentic” is part of the new AD strategy…..)

  18. Tinkle’s boys are getting outrebounded by 18 mid 2nd half and still only down by 4. If they make a few stops and the refs keep it on the level, perhaps Tinks first road win is in process tonight. Hollins is leading scorer with 19 btw.

    • Saw your post so decided to look up the game, Beavs were already down 10 and I see the officials having a pow wow about a foul call, giving Stacy a flagrant 1 plus offsetting techs. Only replay i saw showed stacy make slight contact with a ucla player going up for a layup. Was that the flagrant 1? That’s fucking ridiculous if that earned a flagrant. Didnt see any head contact and the body contact was really minimal.
      Tuned in for 1 minute and turned it off. Waste of time

      • Ok, i watched a little more. If angry needed evidence of biased officiating, just look at the stacy flagrant call and compare it to the regular foul called against UCLA when their guy hacks STJ across the arm to prevent a transition and1. The Stevie foul foul had way more contact and they didnt even think to review. First two foul call i see in the game and i already have an example.
        Anybody willing to grab video?

        • I forgot that the Beavs are not permitted to win in Pauley. UCLA is 2nd in an already mocked conference and losing to Beavs would become a national disgrace to PAC12 brass. UCLA had no fg in the last 5:30 of the game, missed multiple ft, but Beavs had no chance after all. Could never get closer than 4.
          Easier to track along witha game tracker than to actually watch the home-cookin I guess. I’m not nearly as frustrated as if I’d wasted 2 hrs watching the inevitable theft.

          • idk…Beavs won at Pauley two years ago with GP II, so it is possible. Their last Pac-12 road win, I believe.

            STjr needs to seriously learn how to make his free throws. 58% at the line in conference. For a 2 guard? Missing that front end of the one-and-one hurt there at the end. Could have been a two-pt game if he’d made them.

          • Missed free throws right before half, twice on front end of the 1 and 1 by both Thompson bros.. I didn’t see end of the game but sounds like more missed free throws at the end as well.

      • And let me add that the UCLA player was allowed to “flex his muscles” after making said layup on the Stacy foul with no technical foul. I didn’t see anything that Stacy did that warranted a technical foul. Nope. No bias in there whatsoever. Anyone that doesn’t think that there is just needs to watch any game that the Beavs played in Tucson over the last 20+ years.

        • He made no play on the ball and stepped into him. I don’t agree with the ticky-tack nature of it at that point. But it was technically correct.

          • Right, bad memory on my part. Instead of straight up and down, they were straight down and up. Or something…oh well, i’ve cared about this way more than I ever should.

          • To be clear, that’s exactly why it’s technically the right call. He really didn’t intend any harm. And that was clear when he didn’t take him to the ground. He thought he could just knock him off his line and make him shoot two. So it was a ticky-tack call from that perspective.

            But it was just a bad play on Stacy’s part. Get your arms up and jump into the body if you want to put someone on the line. This isn’t noon ball with fat men. It’s Pac 12 ball at Pauley. Have a little respect for the game.

  19. I have an old account for Oregon Live that is still active, so I did a brief, professional comment regarding Moran’s OSU admissions policy article. I questioned why the paper still insists on using incorrect terminology when writing about the Heimlich case even though by now they must be aware of Washington law. The post was literally deleted within five seconds. Are they filtering the phrase adjudicated minor? Incredible.

    • Maybe their legal team has told them to continue using the same language because there is a pending suit. If they change their language or allow their readers to finally know what we all knew within hours of Moran’s original outing of a 12 year-old survivor, then they admit that they know language and words involved in legal proceedings that they supposedly report.

      The disturbing one was Dophin Boy making an otherwise honest prosecutor from Clackamas an unprofessional tool. I don’t know how that prosecutor feels good about calling himself an officer of the court after the weird bullshit he spewed as Dolphin Boy’s sock-puppet.

      I can forgive Brenda Tracy. She’s scattered far and wide, mostly doing the right thing. Yes, she should inform herself about all of which she speaks, not just throw blanket statements out in the void that make her look like another Dolphin Boy tool. It’s just times like these that you note that some of our champions are just not that bright upstairs and may not have the capacity to understand anything that doesn’t come with irrational feelings attached.

      • What do you make of Moran calling the lawyer who had Angry post his article here? Do you think Moran was (and I know this sounds like a joke) trying to intimidate him? I find it interesting that Moran called him and then posted his article and still insisted on referencing Heimlich and Beaver baseball. I get your point about keeping the same language, but they must have attorneys well versed in libel laws.

        Canzano is too arrogant to address his hypocrisy. Tracy is a crusader for a just cause, but as she moves full steam ahead does not take the time to consider nuance.

        Minor, minor, adjudicated minor… is this a difficult concept?

        And slap me on the wrist. I won’t give them any more clicks.

        • Dolphin Boy is just evil.

          I don’t know that Moran talked to the lawyer at any depth. If he did, he probably feels like shit for being a shit. He publicly made a family relive a trauma at the behest of an outsider who apparently didn’t care enough about her own daughter to not spite her publicly.

          And from my unclear vantage, it stacks up like a lie from the beginning.

          Moran will likely find himself in the bottom of many bottles over the coming years. Unless he’s just an oblivious dolt, he’s going to need some therapy to overcome the guilt involving the societal and personal damage he’s done.

    • They were only inaccurate at first. Once exposed and known, they become lies.
      http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/osu-students-must-disclose-past-crimes/article_6619c6a8-3e5a-5186-bbba-4cb335b69696.html

      We finally get an explanation of the difference. The incorrect language seems ubiquitous at this point, which is why I believe the Groanian continues that lie.

      Oddly, Heimlich will not have to report a damn thing to OSU when he enrolls each term. I wonder why only one reporter has reported this.

      Yes, Luke Heimlich can spend time with the niece whose non-custodial mother accused Luke of molestation (and also said her daughter doesn’t really remember any of it in Moran’s original story… that’s pretty common for victims/survivors), but the non-custodial mother may not without permission.

      You tell me who the law thinks is a bigger danger to that child.

      • I don’t want to go back and give them a click, but there was a weird phrase by Moran, something like, “Heimlich is still unregistered in Oregon according to the police”. What an asshole, he knows by now that is irrelevant. If I’m understanding correctly, the situation no longer exists in the eyes of the state of Washington.

          • I had a friend look at the paper edition. “Unclassified” was the term Danny-boy used. Another non-legal phrase and still has no bearing. Just something the uneducated will use to up their fake outrage. My God, can you believe it, he’s unclassified in Oregon!

            I don’t know, it’s crap like this that makes me think Moran still believes he is coming from the pious position of “informing the public”.

          • Hmmm… maybe I should be worried. I have occasional ideations about that woman lying in bed next to me. I need to protect her from my unclassificatedness.

  20. Jesus! This is gonna follow the team everywhere they go this year. Hopefully Casey can make this an us against the world kinda thing and all the players buy in. Sadly I think if it gets too bad, Luke will walk away from the team.

    • Nope. Casey doesn’t have to do anything. It is iterally them against the world at this point.

      But when you’re on the right side and remain united, you can overcome stuff like this. The one that will disturb me will be the 35 inch strike zones our batters will face. If it flies in the CWS, I don’t really know what to expect from the season.

  21. This is very biased and agenda driven article.

    We have to believe a judge, who handles related cases on a weekly basis, would realize the magnitude of convicting a 15 year old with a felony charge of child molestation that carries a life long existence of being a registered sex offender.

    Considering how that life would be for your 15 year old you wouldn’t as a parent, judge, or prosecutor just make or allow that ruling lightly with loose or circumstantial evidence. So if you were innocent and got convicted then you and your whole family would say and do as much as possible afterward to get that changed or overturned. None of that ever happened. No appeal, no public outcry, nothing. They took it and he kept playing baseball. Now on the verge of possibly a lot of money their speaking out. That being the reason or not the timing and lack of anything before now makes you think that’s the reason they picked now. It wasn’t just being convicted it was also a sentencing of being ordered to enter a diversion program, received two years of probation and was ordered to attend sex offender treatment for two years, according to court records. He was sentenced to 40 weeks of detention at Washington’s Juvenile Rehabilitation authority. But that sentence was suspended and he served no time, according to court records, because he successfully completed probation.

    There’s other sides to this also that looks ugly. The liability stand point for OSU. You’ll see through the season a team will go to children’s hospitals to visit kids, go to schools and libraries to read to children. They hold camps and events at their parks for kids to attend. He was part of all of that his whole time there at OSU because their claiming they had no knowledge this whole time of him being a registered sex offender. A parent of a child that was at any of these events has every right under the law to sue the university regardless of their professed knowledge of his past or not. They also couldn’t say for sure he was ever left alone with a child during these events or left unmonitored. The legal side of this too. Failing to report to the sheriffs department. You don’t just forget you’re a registered sex offender you remember it for life. Being he was 15 at the time and living at home then it’s his whole families life too and something you deal with everyday. Nothing was brought up about that breaking of the law or the interactions with kids during his time at OSU.

    You also have the image and brand side. OSU’s president, Edward John Ray, also serves on the NCAA’s executive committee. He was actually the chair in the NCAA’s case vs Penn State during the Sandusky and molestation hearings. He threw the book at Penn state in an unprecedented amount of fines and sanctions. Another instance was when Brenda Tracey got gang raped at OSU. The football players there got kicked off the team, kicked out of school and punished to the fullest extent of the law. To continue to build OSU’s image as a national leader in how they handled and dealt with domestic and sexual abuse they gave Brenda a job at the university helping to handle the title ix cases and change the culture. National papers and magazines were making comments like “ due to Brenda Tracy’s work with OSU, the university “might be one of the most progressive schools in the country” and could offer a roadmap to other colleges around the nation attempting to address the epidemic of sexual violence.” But with Luke they’ve done nothing, virtually no statement, no punishment, still has a full scholarship, still plays on the team. Preseason all American on the cusp of helping OSU to another great season. This tears down all their previous work they’ve done. Brenda made that comment too saying we’ve established such a good foundation and now not to act in the proper way it completely destroys all we’ve done in the past and sends the wrong message about sports, our school, to all victims much less Luke’s victim and her family. Even more so that a week after this news broke last year OSU has their final weekend series at home and the full home crowd gave him a standing ovation with many commenting on “giving their reason was because of how he’s endured and changed and they support him”. They were winning at the time; when they lost at the CWS some changed their viewpoint blaming him for it instead. Even if that were true that’s still a bad message to send to victims and how it looks nationally to give a standing ovation within a week of the news without knowing the full details.

    Sorry for the wall of text. NCAA baseball is a sport very dear to me that I feel is still high in integrity and all the good things in life. I’m also a father of a 19 month old daughter as well as being a minister for the past 12 years. No ill will toward Luke whatsoever, I can’t begin to imagine his background or upbringing or the nature to why/how a person can do these things and it’s not our place to judge. We do however have a system in place for everyone’s protection. That system does hold consequences if not followed. There’s also a moral and ethical standard that we must hold ourself a too and at times others. What some view as our lowest class of people, criminals and inmates incarcerated, they even hold this standard amongst themselves and it’s why we can’t mix sex offenders/child molesters with the general prison population. How much more so should we hold this in high regard.

    • “We do however have a system in place for everyone’s protection. ”

      Um, yeah, did you read the read the post at the top? It specifically addresses the “system” that is/was in place, for everyone’s protection–everyone applies to LH as well, btw. But, nice of you, Brenda, the ex-sister-in-law, and the morons at the O to try applying a different system, post facto.

  22. Personally, I’m a ‘Bama fan & don’t really follow college baseball, so those who say I’m supporting Luke Heimlich is just some blind Beaver fan.

    I do, however, advocate for the right of people who have completed their sentences to be allowed the opportunity to become productive members of society. We have long recognized that juvenile offenders should be handled differently than adults. Both Oregon and Washington state determined Heimlich did not deserved to be named and shamed on the public version of the government registry blacklist.

    What the reporters of the Oregonian did last year was use their newspaper to conduct a targeted harassment campaign to derail Heimlich’s career as a baseball player. As a Bama fan, I understand how intense in-state rivalries can be but this wasn’t so much about sports rivalries than it is about media sensationalism. The WHOREgonian catered to the Nancy Grace/ SVU viewers who buy into the MeToo feminist hype that all men are sexual predators unworthy of forgiveness.

    John Canzano’s wife Anna made her career on fearmongering over sex offense-related topics when she was the I Team reporter for KATU. I’m pretty sure she had input in this incident even if she didn’t make a public report on it. But it was more than Canzano. It was Moran, Katches, and Schmidt, as well as those at the WHOREgonian who gave the green light for this to occur.

    They have proclaimed that THEY feel Heimlich does not deserve a second chance, despite the justice system saying otherwise. Who are they to determine that? For OSU to institute a policy to further humiliate those who make youthful mistakes is just catering to obsessed nutjobs like Brendy Tracy and the rest of the MeToo witch hunters.

    • To be fair, OSU only changed the policy to have registered sex offenders and ex-cons register with the school at the beginning of every term, instead of only at enrollment. Yes, it’s a pain in the ass, but they have liability concerns in this world. And they need to put up barriers anywhere they can… especially in a world where the Oregonian is so far off the truth that they didn’t bother to share most of the information in the legal court proceedings or bother to understand the law when they went on their little tempest.

      Regarding Luke, the new OSU policy doesn’t apply to him. He never has to register for anything again as of last August.

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