Bar complaint filed against Oregon DA Mike Schmidt for 'misrepresenting' facts in granting clemency to notorious killers

A bar complaint has been filed against Portland, OR Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt just weeks before the controversial progressive prosecutor hopes to be reelected for allegedly “misrepresenting” facts in a case that granted two notorious killers clemency. 

Chuck French, a longtime Multnomah County prosecutor who retired under Schmidt's leadership, filed the complaint on April 3 on allegations that Schmidt violated Oregon State Bar rules that prohibit "dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation," according to the Willamette Weekly. 

French claimed that DA Schmidt made "egregious misrepresentations" while handling clemency applications for two individuals who were convicted of aggravated murder in cases that French had prosecuted, which resulted in former Democrat Gov. Kate Brown commuting their prison sentences. 

The two convicted inmates are Theron Hall, 39, and Danielle Cox, 38. Hall was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2006 for killing Carlos Hernandez-Sanchez. Hall shot and killed Hernandez-Sanchez while robbing him, according to court documents. 

Cox, a notorious killer who went by the street name "Shadowcat" from the X-Men comics, pleaded guilty in 2006 to killing and torturing a 22-year-old disabled woman, Jessica Williams, in 2003. Cox was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. 

The clemency sought after by Schmidt and approved by Gov. Brown resulted in Cox becoming eligible for parole at an earlier date and Hall becoming eligible for parole for the first time. However, both remain in prison. 

Chuck French, who brought Cox's case to court, slammed the clemency to The Oregonian last year and claimed that Schmidt's office rubber-stamped the application without thoroughly vetting it in order to rush the process before Brown left office. 

Schmidt never contacted the victim's family, French, or French's co-prosecutor to seek their opinions, despite Oregon law requiring input from the victim's family, according to The Oregonian report. 

Additionally, Chief Deputy District Attorney Kristen Snowden filed a complaint against Mike Schmidt with the county human resources department last month over the same clemency allegations, in addition to accusing DA Schmidt of creating a "workplace culture of fear, intimidation, and retaliation." 

Andrew Rogers, Schmidt's campaign manager, denounced the accusations to the Willamette Weekly as a smear campaign by Schmidt's top opponent prosecutor, Nathan Vasquez. 

“Nathan Vasquez, who can’t articulate a single meaningful platform point beyond ‘I don’t like my boss,’ continues to rely on his small group of friends to manufacture controversies in a desperate attempt to discredit Mike,” Rogers said.