Editor’s Note: On Sept. 15, “An Oregon Murder: A New Book Brings Back Courtroom Memories,” by Joshua Marquis, appeared on this page. Marquis, an Oregon prosecutor, discussed a new book by Gerry Spence, the noted trial lawyer and author, about the trials of a son and mother for a murder committed in rural Lincoln County, Ore., 18 years ago. Marquis recounted his recollections of the trials, the media attention and the disciplinary complaints that grew out of the cases. Marquis and Spence clashed back then and they continue to disagree about the meaning and fairness of the events of those days. Now, Spence responds.
Reading Joshua Marquis’ rant and rancor about my new book, The Smoking Gun, one wonders why he cannot let loose of this case. He tried a 15-year-old boy, Mike Jones Jr., for murder before a juvenile court. The boy was trying to protect his mother from a man who had previously fired his rifle in the direction of the boy and his little sister, had run down the boy’s father with a pickup truck and (said the children) had tried to poison the family by throwing a dead raccoon into their cistern, and had unsuccessfully filed criminal charges against the boy’s parents for various petty misdemeanors. This was a man who, through endless harangue and harassment, was attempting to force a supposed county road through the Jones’ property to serve his subdivision-eventually denied by the courts.
