At the moment, there are multiple complaints facing the Multnomah County Sheriff for alleged abuse by deputies against inmates in jail. To better understand the situation, I got to meet with deputies WHILE they train out at the currently empty Wapato Jail facility.

The first thing that surprised me, was the mentality. Like many people, I had the impression that deputies were encouraged to restrain or subdue. Not the case. Sgt. Jose Martinez says the goal is to disengage and get away . . . and considering that deputies marching between the cells may only have a 1.8 ounce can of pepper spray, handcuffs and a radio . . . sometimes the only way to disengage an attacker is with an offensive strike.

About fifteen deputies of varying sizes walked through their training on mats in sock feet . . . in each case, they simulated an attack by an inmate . . . either simply being held to the ground or being physically struck with punches and kicks . . . In each scenario, deputies try to use body weight and center of gravity to escape . . . get up . . . and call for help. When a simple shove doesn't work, they're taught to use pressure points, punches and kicks if need be.

Sgt. Martinez says inmates are NOT going to fight fair . . . in his words, this is not a wrestling match with rules . . . if an inmate attacks it is to do serious damage to the deputy . . . as a result, the deputy needs to be able to fight back in kind . . .

He adds that deputies are NOT out to cause trouble because of the liability (both to the jail and the individual deputy). He says they don't WANT to use force and only do so when it is absolutely necessary.

An interesting side note, while the complainants and Sheriff's department are world's apart on many issues . . . one place they agree on is adding more cameras for surveillance (reps say the only thing holding back MORE cameras is budget problems).

Martinez says over use of force can happen . . . however, considering that about 200 inmate-on-staff attacks occur every year, the rate of excessive force is INCREDIBLY low . . . he urges everyone to consider the specifics and circumstances of each case before passing judgement.

In less than 15-minutes, Portland's Number One pick in the NBA Draft, Greg Oden, will get his first chance to address the public following season-ending knee surgery. But the public has already addressed Oden.

Well, maybe not Oden directly . . . but they'll be PUTTING his address on a giant envelope . . . holding a giant get well card . . . 12 by 8 feet . . . 1,000 signatures . . . all from faithful fans of Rip City wishing the Seven-Footer a speedy recovery.

Many signers keep it simple . . . things like "hurry back to the court" or "can't wait to see you do your thing" . . . a few have gotten a BIT more personal . . . as many as 10 female fans left their phone numbers on the card . . .

At this point, there's no word on how many stamps it will take to get the card through the post office . . . or if Nike (the group behind the card) will simply go with UPS, FedEx or DHL.

I can remember a year ago, hearing the details of this case filtering into the newsroom . . . A nurse was attacked by a home intruder and ended up strangling the man . . . the attacker may have been hired to kill her . . . the man who hired the attacker may have been her estranged husband . . .

In September of 2006, Edward Haffey came out of the shadows in the home of Susan Kuhnhausen and attacked her with a hammer. A nurse with 30-years experience, Kuhnhausen fought Haffey and eventually killed him.

As days progressed following the attack, a string of evidence began to reveal itself that seemed to draw connections between Haffey and Kuhnhausen's estranged husband, Michael Sr. Haffey's date book with Kuhnhausen's name in it . . . A slip of paper with Kuhnhausen's name and cell phone number in Haffey's back pack . . . comments made by Kuhnhausen . . .

Today, Michael Kuhnhausen Sr. entered a guilty plea, agreeing to ten years behind bars for hiring Edward Haffey to kill his wife. It is normal to have victims and family of victims as well as the defendant and his/her family speak . . . even in a plea agreement, the Judge has a range of penalties and one side will push for the low end, the other for the high.

In today's hearing, one of Susan's co-workers, a friend and her brother addressed the court. Then, Susan Kuhnhausen took the stand herself . . . for seventy minutes (I have never seen a victim's statement go longer than ten minutes). Over the course of her time on the bench, Kuhnhausen outlined every detail of the case to those of us in the court . . . she talked about her strained relationship with her husband . . . his fits of depression and violent statements . . . she vividly described the battle between her and Haffey . . . she held up photos of her own wounds, the blood stains in her hallway, and Haffey's lifeless body . . . those photos were then laid in front of Michael Kuhnhausen who sat in a chair, shackled at the ankles wearing blue and pink prison garb.

When she was done, Michael Kuhnhausen opted merely to tell the court he had hurt many people over the last year . . . and that he was sorry.

Kuhnhausen was sentenced to 120 months behind bars. With credit for time served he still has about nine years to go . . . with good behavior he could be released in only seven.

As I've said in prior postings on this blog, arraignments and initial court appearances tend to be low-key. The defendant appears . . . his or her lawyer says a few things . . . the court sets another date for a future hearing (or potentially the start of a trial) and everyone leaves.

What was supposed to be the out of custody arraignment of Teresa Nickelby was not a NORMAL hearing.

First, audiences at arraignments tend to be small. Maybe a few family members. Moments before the judge entered the room, about 30 or 40 people filed in the Clark County courtroom. About 8-10 flanked themselves around Nickelby who is still in a wheelchair following a car accident that took place four months ago.

Everyone else was either a friend or family member of Jessica Blanck and Kristyne Shaddix. In late April, Nickelby collided head-on with Shaddix and Blanck, killing both women. Nickelby was allegedly drunk at the time and using a suspended license.

Family and friends of the two girls wore badges with their photos over the word "Justice" and vowed to attend every court date until Nickelby is sentenced.

Supporters from both sides were raw with emotion as the proceedings dragged on. There were several cases to be heard and it took about a half hour for the judge to get to the Nickelby case (they tried to call it earlier but were missing one of the attorneys).

When Nickelby was finally called to the front of the courtroom, the prosecutor dropped a bit of a bombshell. Not only is Nickelby facing vehicular homicide charges for the crash (carrying a potential sentence of 4-5 years behind bars) . . . she has several WARRANTS. It turns out, at the time of the crash Nickelby was wanted for several offenses including jumping bail.

As a result of that and the severity of the current charges, the judge denied her request to be released on her own recognizance and had her taken into custody . . . the set bail of $50,000 elicited a few expletives from her supporters and sighs of relief from the family of the victims.

As an observer, I noticed an interesting dynamic in the gallery. It has been my experience at court hearings, that the family and supporters of the victims tend to be angry, aggressive, frustrated and more prone to emotional outburst. Conversely, the family of the defendant tend to be a bit more passive . . . upset, tearful but not angry and not hostile.

But at the Nickelby hearing it was the opposite. The family/friends of Nickelby were more forceful in the courtroom . . . there were even reports of Nickelby's wheelchair being run into the family of the victims . . . I and another reporter approached the Nickelby camp after the hearing to offer them a chance to speak on her behalf . . . they screamed at us and left.

Conversely, Rob Blanck (the father of Jessica) was incredibly subdued during the event . . . weeping with his family and talking openly about how this is only the first step on what promises to be a long road . . . there was no anger in his voice . . . just hope for justice for his daughter.

Nickelby does not yet have an attorney and the prosecutor declined to talk about the case on record. Both sides will be back in court on Thursday.