State of Alaska Department of Law

Today, Superior Court Judge Jason Gist sentenced Kelly Crane to a composite 64 years in jail with 12 years suspended, 15 years of supervised probation, and sex offender registration and treatment. On Oct. 26, 2023, at the conclusion of a 17-day jury trial, a Kenai jury convicted Crane, 61, of Soldotna of sexually abusing one pre-school age girl and two grade-school age girls living in his home over the Spring and Summer of 2019. Evidence at the trial showed that Kelly Crane committed the most serious offense of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the first degree against the youngest of three sisters, a four-year-old girl, and committed multiple counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the second degree against her oldest sister. When Crane attempted to sexually abuse the middle sister also, she reported it to an older relative who notified the police. The jury convicted Crane of 1 unclassified felony count of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the First Degree, 2 class B felony counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the Second Degree, and 1 class C felony count of Attempted Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the Second Degree. #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #Soldotna #DistrictAttorney #CriminalJustice

Friday, July 12th, after a four-day trial, a jury found 32-year-old Daniel Nick guilty of Kidnapping, Coercion, two counts of Assault in the Third Degree, Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree, Unlawful Contact, and four counts of Violating Conditions of Release. The convictions relate to crimes that occurred against a domestic partner in Kwethluk in August 2023. The jury deliberated for 40 minutes before returning its verdicts. Less than two weeks prior to this incident, Nick was released on bail in a different case in which he is alleged to have committed arson and attempted murder against the same victim. That case is still open and awaiting trial. Nick is presumed innocent of all charges in that case. The case was investigated by the Alaska State Troopers and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Bailey Woolfstead of the Office of Special Prosecutions’ Rural Prosecution Unit and Bethel District Attorney’s Office Intern Chad Flanders. Tundra Women’s Coalition provided victim advocacy services to the victim throughout the trial. After the verdict, the defendant was remanded pursuant to statute and is being held without bail, pending sentencing. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 12, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. in Bethel. Nick faces a sentencing range of 5 to 114 years to serve. #WeAreAKLaw

Today, the Fairbanks District Attorney's Office Junior DA Program graduated 51 students. District Attorney Joe Dallaire, Criminal Division Director Angie Kemp, and Attorney General Treg Taylor presented the graduates with their certificates in front of a large crowd. This was the culmination of a six week program exposing the students to the workings of state government and the criminal justice system. The Fairbanks District Attorney’s Office thanks the following people and organizations, without whom the success of this program would not have been possible: ·      the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District; ·      the Alaska State Troopers; ·      the Fairbanks Police Department; ·      the North Pole Police Department; ·      the Alaska Public Defender Agency; ·      Fairbanks Adult Probation; ·      the Federal Bureau of Investigation; ·      the Alaska Court System; ·      Senator Kawasaki; ·      Representative Cronk; ·      the Governor’s Office; and ·      our teacher volunteers.   The application period for the 2025 Junior DA Program will open in the spring. #WeAreAKLaw #Fairbanks #Alaska #DistrictAttorney

Today, Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby sentenced Brian Steven Smith, 53, to 226 years in prison for the murders of Kathleen Jo Henry and Veronica Abouchuk. Smith was convicted in February of 14 counts including two counts of Murder in the First Degree. A jury also found him guilty of Sexual Assault in the Second Degree, Tampering with Physical Evidence and Misconduct Involving a Corpse. Homicide detectives with the Anchorage Police Department were alerted about a murder when a woman in possession of Smith’s phone shared videos with them from Smith’s phone. The video along with photos found on the device showed that Smith had tortured a then unknown woman before killing her, disposing of her body, and attempting to hide the evidence. Further investigation resulted in the victim, murdered in 2019, being identified as 30-year-old Kathleen Jo Henry. While he was being questioned, Smith admitted to killing a second victim, a year prior in 2018. That woman was identified as 52-year-old Veronica Abouchuk. Family members and members of the community gathered in the courtroom for the sentencing, and Veronica Abouchuk’s daughter provided a statement wishing that Smith would live the rest of his life with no hope. In handing down the lengthy sentence advocated for by the State, Judge Saxby said, “There is no hope. There is no restoration. There is only preventing Mr. Smith from killing again.” The case was tried by Anchorage District Attorney Brittany Dunlop and Deputy District Attorney Heather Nobrega, before Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby. #WeAreAKLaw

Today, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy signed HB66 into law. Attorney General Treg Taylor and Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore applauded the improvements for public safety and support for victims of sex crimes. Deputy Attorney General, thanked Governor Dunleavy for signing HB66 and his other efforts to bring crime in Alaska to a forty year low. “I am proud of the criminal legislation being signed into law,” said Attorney General Taylor. “This legislation will better protect victims of crime, help prevent dangerous people from escaping consequences, increase penalties for drug traffickers, and bolster Alaska’s sex offender registry to better protect our communities and families.” Assistant Attorney General Kate Tallmadge, left, Angie Kemp, Director of the Criminal Division, middle , and Assistant Attorney General Kaci Schroeder, on right. Kemp testified before Legislators on the benefits of the bill. Schroeder is a subject matter expert on the bill. All three were instrumental in the passing of this bill. HB 66 makes a number of positive changes for victims of crime. It allows officers to summarize statements of victims and other witnesses at the grand jury phase of the case. Reducing the need for victims to be retraumatized by having to retell their story over and over again. It raises the penalty for those who deliver the most serious controlled substances and a person dies as a result of ingesting that substance from manslaughter to murder in the second degree. The legislation puts into statute a list of various ways in which a person may be induced or caused to engage in commercial sexual acts, renames the crime of possession or distribution of child pornography to possession or distribution of child sexual abuse material, requires sex offenders who have to register in another state to also register in Alaska regardless of when they were convicted, and enacts a new crime of assault in the presence of a child.   #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #AK #HB66 #CriminalJustice                                                                                        

Mental Health Law Attorney Apply today! Check out this exciting career opportunity with the Department of Law in Protecting Vulnerable Alaskans. Find out about this position and more here: https://lnkd.in/g66JNCaa We are specifically looking for an attorney to represent the Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API). The position involves frequent court hearings related to involuntary mental commitments and involuntary psychotropic medication. Additionally, the attorney will provide advice to API on a variety of topics, including compliance with state and federal law, HIPAA, and criminal matters. The attorney should be able to work with a variety of people including witnesses and the public. In addition to these duties, this attorney will also provide advice to other State agencies on a wide variety of topics. #WeAreAKLaw

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor is sharing consumer protection reminders and raising awareness about the availability of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services following an unprecedented data breach in February at Change Healthcare. Change Healthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth, is the nation’s biggest electronic data clearinghouse. Change Healthcare's technological infrastructure is used by tens of thousands of providers, pharmacies, and insurers to verify insurance, confirm pre-authorization of procedures or services, exchange insurance claim data, and perform other administrative tasks essential to the delivery of health care. The February cyberattack interrupted operations for thousands of doctors’ offices, hospitals, and pharmacies. It also resulted in Americans’ sensitive health and personal data being leaked onto the dark web - a hidden portion of the Internet where cyber criminals buy, sell, and track personal information. The actual number and identity of affected patients is unknown. Change Healthcare has publicly stated that the data breach could impact up to 1/3 of all Americans. Accordingly, Attorney General Taylor wants to make sure Alaskans are aware of the breach and the resources available to them, including the offer that Change Healthcare has provided to the public. “You may not have heard of Change Healthcare before, but that does not mean your data was not affected,” said Attorney General Taylor. “Your provider or insurer may have been a Change Healthcare customer. I encourage Alaskans to take advantage of the resources described in this release.” Change Healthcare is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protections for two years for all Alaska residents who believe their identification information may have been affected. The dedicated website and call center will not be able to provide specific details about whether personal data was impacted but can guide consumers through getting set up for the free credit monitoring and identity theft protections. Because of the wide impact of this breach, the safest course of action is to assume that your information has been involved. Cyberattacks in the healthcare sector have increased in both frequency and severity in recent years. Data breaches involving PHI are required to be reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services - Office for Civil Rights (hhs.gov) by HIPAA-covered entities. Since the beginning of this year, the portal shows data breaches impacted the PHI of nearly 38 million consumers. Joining Attorney General Taylor in sharing these consumer protection resources is a bipartisan group of attorneys general from across the country. See more at: https://lnkd.in/gSR43aUQ #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska

“On a day in which we celebrate our independence and enjoy our freedoms, don’t forget we also have the duty and privilege to defend those freedoms.” -Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #IndependenceDay

The Alaska Department of Law filed a lawsuit today challenging the recent restrictive regulations imposed for oil and gas leasing in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The new rules were passed without proper input from affected parties, exceeded their congressional authorization and were rushed into place as an end-run on congressional oversight. By challenging the new NPR-A regulations, Alaska joins local industry and Native Alaska stakeholders to reverse the new rules. "The State of Alaska wants federal agencies to follow the law," says Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor. "Rulemaking must allow input from various perspectives and be fair. These new rules circumvent the congressional mandate to develop and manage the NPR-A lands for oil and gas uses. This lawsuit seeks to prevent overreach by federal agencies that disregard Alaska's rights." Alaska sought to engage the rulemaking process, submitted thoughtful comments and requested more time to prepare comments. Instead, the rules were passed in haste to beat a potential change in congressional oversight. “The inmates are truly running the Biden Administration asylum,” said John Boyle, Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources. “This National Petroleum Reserve rule is nothing more than a consolation prize to the radical environmentalist groups upset by the Willow decision. And the people of the State of Alaska are left to hold the bag and bear the terrible consequences.” #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #NPRA

Attorneys for the Alaska Department of Law questioned witnesses last week and this week in a trial about a petition for a ballot initiative. Before trial, the State prevailed on the claims against the Alaska Division of Elections. The court ruled that the Division properly counted signatures in petition booklets that were corrected. The plaintiffs allege that two other signatures were invalid and that multiple booklets should be invalidated by the conduct of the circulators. The trial concludes today. Photos: Assistant Attorney General Lael Harrison participates from her office in Juneau. Assistant Attorney General Thomas Flynn questioned witnesses in Anchorage. #WeAreAKLaw #Alaska #Elections