Statesman Journal questionnaire for Nov.

2, 2010, General Election

Thank you for responding to this questionnaire, which is for use by Statesman Journal
Editorial Board members in evaluating Polk County Circuit Court candidates for
potential endorsement. Your answers also will be shared with reporters, may be published
in the print newspaper and may be posted on StatesmanJournal.com.

Deadline: Please return the questionnaire by 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 11. Earlier is even
better. Please send it to the Editorial Board e-mail: Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com.

Circuit Court

Name: Sally Avera

Age: 60

City/town of residence: Dallas, Oregon

Number of years you have lived full-time in this county: 34

Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of

grown children): One adult son.

Current employer/job: Chief Deputy District Attorney for Polk County

Employment, military and volunteer history:

Chief Deputy District Attorney for Polk County (Current)

Senior Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice Appellate Division
Assistant City Attorney, City of Salem
Workers’ Compensation Board Staff Attorney
Sole Practitioner
Deputy District Attorney for Polk County
Oregon State Public Defender (Agency head, appellate level defense statewide).
Deputy State Public Defender (Appellate Level)
Partner Avera & Avera P.C.
Law Clerk – State Public Defender’s Office
Head Resident Matthews Hall, Willamette University
Oregon State Parks Information Call Taker
Prorate Clerk – Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles
Substitute Teacher at Secondary Level, Salem-Keizer School District
Sales Clerk-Meier & Frank department store
Cowhand (worked on cattle ranch during college summers)
Vet Maid (Candy striper for livestock at UC Davis Large Animal Clinic)
 Receptionist (medical office)
Janitor (high school job)

Civic/religious/other local involvement:

Participate in Interfaith Hospitality Network volunteer activities.

Had a great time for many years a volunteer scorekeeper and sometime announcer
for Dallas Kids, Inc. and tournament baseball.

Please list all public offices to which you’ve been elected, and when: None

Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when: None

Other political and government experience: Only that described in the employment
section above.

Year you were admitted to the Oregon State Bar: 1977

Other bars, if any, of which you an active member and when were you admitted:
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Names/roles of any family members who serve as judges in Polk County or who are
practicing as lawyers in Polk County: None (although my former spouse, Fred Avera,
currently serves as a judge in Polk County).

How the public can reach your campaign (remember that this information will be public):

Mail address: Committee to Elect Sally Avera, P.O. Box 68, Dallas, OR 97338

E-mail address: sallylou2@msn.com

Web site URL: www.averaforjudge.com

Phone: (503) 559-2202

How much will your general election campaign cost? (Please be specific about your
campaign budget, not “as much as we can raise.”)

Approximately $44,000

Who are your top campaign contributors/lenders? (Please list at least the current top five
and their total dollar amounts.)

Sally Avera $42,800

Richard L. Manning $150
A total of $575 from other contributors all between $50 individual-$100 couple.

Endorsements you’ve received:

Hon. William M. Horner, Presiding Judge, Polk County Circuit Court
Hon. Fred Avera, Polk County Circuit Court
Darrell J. Williams, Retired Polk County Circuit Court Judge
Hon. Jeffery M. Wallace, Umatilla-Morrow Circuit Court Judge
Dallas Police Employees’ Association
Richard Manning, Retired Lt.Commander, Criminal Division,
Polk County Sheriff’s Office
Keith Miller, Retired Sr. Trooper-Oregon State Police
Jim Harper, Retired Chief of Police for the City of Dallas
Randy Hicks, Retired Corporal, Salem Police Department
Lane and Francine Shetterly
Kate Cooper Richardson and Steve Richardson
Many additional individuals listed on website: www.averaforjudge.com

For each of the following questions, feel free to limit your answer to about 75 words,
although that’s not a requirement.

1. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, been disciplined by a professional licensing
board/organization (including the OSB) or had an ethics violation filed against you? If so,
please give the details. No

2. Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, been delinquent on your taxes or other major
accounts, or been sued personally or professionally? If so, please give the details.

While State Public Defender I was sued by prison inmates a few times in my official
capacity. It goes with the territory. All claims were resolved without payment or finding
of negligence/malpractice by any State Public Defender staff member.

3. Why do you want to be a judge?

 Like most trial lawyers, it’s a dream that I’ve harbored for many years. As
advocates, we are persuaders rather than deciders. Secretly we’d all like to be deciders.
I’d like to bring a greater understanding of the process and of the decision making
application of law to our community; to “lift the veil.” Our system is to some extent
mistrusted because it remains a mystery to most citizens. I’d like the opportunity to
explain it in a fashion that is accessible to those whose crises bring them to the court.
Transparency.

To be entirely truthful, I also kind of like the idea of not wearing a suit coat to
work every day.

4. Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponents?

My personal life experience and unique professional perspective and balance

bring something different than offered by any other candidate. In addition to the job
experiences related above, I was for many years a wife, raised a son, suffered an injury
that prevented me from working for a few months, have been in the “$9.00 in the bank
and rent due” situation, understand the disappointment and emotional turmoil of divorce
on a gut level – not just as an abstract concept.

My particular career path has led me to seven years of experience as a trial level
defender and five years experience as a trial level prosecutor, something no other
candidate can offer. That balanced perspective is important in allowing me to thoroughly
understand both sides of the case, and how each functions in the courtroom. Because
I’ve done both for a substantial period, I can anticipate problems coming from either
direction before they arise. Moreover, that same balanced perspective gained at the
appellate level as State Public Defender and Sr. Assistant Attorney General, gives me a
broader knowledge of Oregon’s criminal law on a deeper intellectual level. As an
appellate advocate I was required to analyze in two months more complex cases than the
average trial attorney would see in a year. I am the only candidate who has been required
to evaluate and argue complex aggravated murder cases to the Oregon Supreme Court,
from both sides of the aisle. Appellate analysis challenging convictions of any degree
necessarily involves searching for errors of law made by circuit court judges. The
experience makes me particularly attuned to the requirements necessary to preserve a
legal issue for appeal, required advice a judge must provide to a criminal defendant,
required jury instructions and the need to adequately support any legal opinion rendered
with competent legal reasoning. In short, I have learned many pitfalls to avoid.

Added to this solid criminal law background is considerable practical experience

in juvenile proceedings, civil matters (particularly domestic relations), law-related
management, and in drafting legal opinions as a neutral (85-100 proposed opinions
submitted to the Workers’ Compensation Board).

5. What personal strengths or talents would you bring to the role of circuit judge?
 I am a more thoughtful and patient listener, and far better judge of character and
veracity at 60 than I was at 40; life experience and raising a child to adulthood helps. I
have a much greater understanding of life’s problems than my current job status might
suggest to some.

After 33 years of practice, I remain passionate about the law and its application to
resolve disputes in a sensible and predictable way. I deeply believe in the legal system.
As a trial lawyer, legal analyst and experienced writer, I am able to explain the law at a
third grade or doctorate level. I can provide the transparency needed in the judicial role.

I play well with others. I work well with others, in and out of the courthouse. I
have learned to disagree without being disagreeable. I understand that conflicts are
professional, never personal – and would encourage litigators to practice the “Polk
County handshake rule.”

6. What is the largest number of employees you’ve supervised, and in what capacity?

While State Public Defender I supervised and attorney staff of 20+, and a support
staff of 13.

7. How would you describe your judicial temperament?

Respectful, patient, calm, attentive, reasoned and courteous.

8. How many criminal cases have you tried in court as a prosecutor or defense attorney?

Conservatively 200 jury trials, plus approximately 200 bench trials for a total of
400. Some as defense counsel, some as prosecutor.

You don’t provide the category, but I’ve also represented defendants or the state
in more than 500 criminal appeals.

9. How many civil cases have you tried in court?

OJIN records are unavailable. My best estimate is 58.

10. How many cases have you handled overall? More than 1000.

11. For what organizations have you done pro bono work?
 I participated in the reduced fee divorce program through Marion-Polk Legal Aid
and provided pro bono work on an individual basis to members of the community.

12. What has been the scope of your practice as a lawyer?

A. While in private practice, I handled trial level criminal defense cases, juvenile
domestic relations matters, delinquency and dependency proceedings, wills-
estates and probate, business law, contracts, property sales and disputes,
involuntary mental commitments, and limited civil appeals.

B. As a Deputy State Public Defender and as Oregon’s State Public Defender, I

represented indigent defendants and prison inmates on appeal of criminal
convictions (primarily felonies) and challenges to decisions made by the
Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision to the Oregon Court of Appeals
and Oregon Supreme Court. In addition I tried post-conviction relief and
habeas corpus matters to the Marion County Circuit Court. Work in the State
Public Defenders’ Office is high volume, intellectually challenging, and
cutting edge.

C. As Oregon’s State Public Defender I maintained an active appellate caseload

as described above, while at that same time serving as the agency
administrator. My administrative duties required me to draft and present the
agency budget to the Oregon legislature, appear before legislative committees
and work groups on criminal law matters, establish agency policy and
practices, monitor agency expenditures, accept responsibility for personnel
decisions and work closely with appellate and trial courts.

D. As Deputy District Attorney for Polk County, I represented the state in

prosecution of all misdemeanor-only cases during my employment and in all
juvenile cases until approximately three months before my departure.

E. While a sole practitioner, I did very limited work on appeals and minor
“advice only” matters.

F. As a Staff Attorney for the Workers’ Compensation Board, my duties required

me to review the decision of the Administrative Law Judge, the records, files,
exhibits, and competing legal briefs in the case, and then to draft a proposed
opinion resolving the dispute for consideration by members of the Workers’
Compensation Board.

G. As Assistant City Attorney for the City of Salem, I served as the City’s only
prosecutor. In addition, I assisted in reviewing existing ordinances and
 crafting amendments and new provisions.

H. My job as Sr. Assistant Attorney General in the DOJ Appellate Division

involved both representing the state in criminal and quasi-criminal appeals
(including death-penalty matters) and participating as a member of a death-
penalty post-conviction relief trial team. Because of my “senior” status, I was
assigned a complex caseload.

I. As Chief Deputy District Attorney, I am assigned a relatively workload of

mixed felony and misdemeanor cases. These tasks involve meeting with
victims and witnesses on an almost daily basis. In addition, my position
requires me to respond to questions from officers regarding on-going
investigations, take an “on call” rotation, draft search warrants, prepare
criminal complaints, and draft and respond to motions and memoranda. On
rare occasion, I fill in for another deputy in Drug Court, on juvenile matters,
or on child support enforcement cases. I am among those who present felony
cases to grand jury. In addition I perform administrative duties such as
assigning cases, monitoring attorney-staff performance and serving as a
resource for attorney staff. I regularly participate in trainings conducted by
local police agencies. Among the not-so-pleasant tasks is the requirement that
either the District Attorney or I (or sometimes both of us) respond to all deaths
or anticipated deaths resulting from criminal agency.

13. What involvement have you had with the Oregon State Bar as far as writing
publications, leading seminars, working on projects or the like?

While employed as State Public Defender, I drafted “Appellate Update” materials

and participated in a joint oral presentation to the OSB Criminal Law Section.

In addition, I assisted drafting portions of an early draft of the Oregon Criminal

Defense Lawyers Association (OCDLA) Search and Seizure Manual. The
manual has since been substantially revised.

I have been a presenter at three OCDLA seminars on the subjects of search and
seizure and appellate law/updates.

In addition, I have served in the following capacities:

Chairperson-Uniform Criminal Jury Instruction Committee

Chairperson-12th Judicial District Juvenile Services Advisory Commission
Board Member –OCDLA (not an OSB unit)
President 12th Judicial District Bar Association (Polk & Yamhill)
President Polk Lawyers Association (predecessor to Polk County Bar)
 Legislative Committee-OCDLA
Legislative Committee-Oregon District Attorneys’ Association
Member OSB Public Service and Information Committee
Member OSB Press & Bar Committee
Member Oregon Appellate Rules Committee
Member OSB Criminal Law Section
Member OSB Appellate Law Section
Member OSB Workers’ Compensation Section

14. What involvement have you had in educating laypeople, especially young people,
about the law and/or the role of lawyers/judges?

Over the years I have spoken to social studies classes at Dallas High School on
approximately nine occasions. The assigned topic is typically “constitutional law.” The
discussion invariably focuses on police conduct and the trial process. Such discussions
provide a wonderful opportunity to explain what the courtroom experience is, and how a
judge will consider and resolve a case.

I have conducted a “Trial 101” course to all Polk County police agencies, and on
two occasions to a police reserve academy. It has also initiated very active discussions of
the judge’s role and perspective.

15. What experience do you have as a judge?

In 2004 I was approved as a Circuit Court Judge Pro Tem by the Oregon Supreme
Court. I served only a few days as I was recuperating from a series ankle injury, then
accepted a position (Assistant City Attorney) that preclude further performance.

16. How would you explain the role of a judge?

A judge’s role is to resolve society’s conflicts in a reasoned, honest, open-minded

and impartial manner according existing law. Further, a judge is charged with the human
responsibility (though not a legal one) to explain his or her decision in a manner that can
be understood by those involved. Parties in personal liberty, financial or marital crisis
need an opportunity to be heard and to be made aware that what they’ve said has been
thoughtfully considered.

17. The Oregon Judicial Department, like other departments, faces a budget crunch.
Granted, you may have a limited role as a new circuit judge. Still, what cost-saving
and/or efficiency-improving steps would you advocate?
 Because Polk County has a small bench, many policy and procedure questions are
resolved collaboratively. Thus, the new judge will have an opportunity to contribute his
or her ideas almost immediately. I would advocate the following:

A. Setting criminal pretrials a bit farther out to reduce the “roll over” congestion;
B. Requiring all civil and criminal counsel to present settlements and pleas more
than a week prior to the scheduled trial date to enable efficient jury coordination;
and
C. Adopting a local court rule requiring that motions and supporting memoranda
be submitted no later than 14 days before the scheduled hearing date, and
allowing the responding party 7 days within which to respond. This should
prevent some continuances currently necessitated by the late filing of written
materials.

18. How would you deal the issue of over-representation of minorities in the judicial
system (and thus the corrections system)?

This problem does exist in Oregon. When it does, it is most frequently the result
of law enforcement conduct, typically the “why did you stop that car, or focus on that
individual” issue. As a prosecutor, I must deal with the criminal conduct reported to me.
If the investigative reports disclose criminal behavior, the charge should be filed, no
matter the perpetrators ethnicity or race. As one who frequently assigns cases, I have not
recognized a substantial overrepresentation of minorities in criminal case referrals here.
However, prosecutors must be ever alert to patterns of “targeting behavior” by police
agencies or individuals within them and if recognized they are obligated to report it to
supervisory personnel.

Similarly, a judge must resolve the cases brought before him or her. The circuit
court is not empowered to reject a case or decide a case based on minority status. He or
she should be alert to patterns or individual instances of abuse, and must act to
appropriately report them.

19. How effectively is the CASA system working in Polk County?

Our CASA program is staffed by a single part-time employee director. It

struggled under its former director and is now improving. When our current director
assumed her role, the program was disorganized.

The present performance of volunteer CASAs is uneven. The demand for CASAs
has required the director to accept college students and others who have less life
experience and training than we would like. Our director is working with the newer
recruits and providing training opportunities to bring them up to speed, however, there
are serious problems in working with students who may have only a short-term
commitment to the program and lack appreciation for what it takes to be a parent or make
a home safe and emotionally secure for a child. There are several individual volunteers
who have great experience (and correspondingly heavier and more difficult assignments)
as CASAs.

20. What changes, if any, would you advocate in the Polk County juror/jury selection
system?

Our jurisdiction has put the recommendations and directives of Chief Justice
DeMuniz in place. Consequently, those who shirk their responsibility to honor a jury
summons are routinely brought before the court to explain the unexcused absence. This
may seem unnecessary, but it has helped. Apparently word has gotten out. There are far
fewer “no shows” than was formerly the case.

In individual cases, we use the panel voir dire system. It is efficient and works
well in most instances, although to many jurors it seems a waste of time.

I would advocate two changes in the selection system currently employed:

1) I would suggest that the court identify permissible excuses from attendance in
addition to those allowed by existing policy directives (and that most parties generally
agree upon) and that the court authorize a staff member to grant the waiver of summons.

2) I would suggest that jurors be assigned their trial appearance dates earlier in
the process so that they may make personal and employment adjustments more easily.
Requiring parties to enter settlements or pleas more than a week before the scheduled
trial date would assist in this regard.

21. Who is your judicial role model, and why?

I have always admired former Polk County Circuit Court Judge Darrell J.
Williams. Judge Williams kept a poker face during trials, never signaling his personal
reaction to any witness, evidentiary disclosure, or lawyer to jurors by tone or body
language. He had an easy manner that made jurors, witnesses and parties comfortable in
his courtroom. Judge Williams was fair minded and knowledgeable. If I recall correctly,
he was reversed only three times in a judicial career that continued beyond 20 years. I
will never forget his kindness to me during my early years. I was the first resident female
attorney in Polk County in many years. Judge Williams accepted me as a “regular” and
encouraged me in my practice. Because he did, others in the legal community ultimately
did as well.

22. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you
want to disclose before it comes up in the campaign? No.