Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks says prosecutors will file about 25 percent fewer felonies in fiscal year 2024, which is the first time violent crimes have declined since post-pandemic spikes. He noted the office also successfully prosecuted eight homicides in the first four months of the year.
A judge on Friday delayed the sentencing for Duval Walker Jr., convicted of first-degree murder in March, so his lawyers can talk to a woman who says she witnessed the March 17, 2023, fatal shooting in a Marion bar but had not been interviewed by police. A prosecutor, who resisted the delay, said they had talked to the woman and she identifies Walker as the shooter.