Victory for Oregon Judge Who Was Targeted for His Stand on Biblical Marriage

Steve Warren : Oct 24, 2018
CBN News

"Sometimes ... I think you see a different side of God that you can only see in that trial and it expands your understanding of His relentless, and I mean relentless, goodness and His kindness." -Judge Vance Day

(Salem, OR)—[CBN News] The state of Oregon is dropping criminal felony firearms charges against suspended Marion County Judge Vance Day because a key witness refused to testify at his trial. (Photo: via CBN News)

The Statesman Journal reports jury selection was underway in Day's trial. Opening statements were scheduled for Wednesday. The witness, who refused to appear, was not identified in the court order.

Since the statute of limitations has expired on the charges, prosecutors cannot attempt to refile. The judge dismissed the case without prejudice.

Day's attorneys said they were pleased the charges were dismissed, but their client was looking forward to finally having his day in court.

"It is disappointing that it took nearly two years and an incredible waste of our public funds to reach this result," attorneys Mike De Muniz and Steven Sherlag said in a statement. "Judge Day was looking forward to finally receiving a transparent and public airing of the facts, which we believe would have led to an acquittal on all charges."

Day told CBN News in an interview last April that the charges were punishment for his Biblical views on marriage.

"In the dead of winter his source of heat, which was a pellet stove, failed," he recalled. "So our team talked about it and I'm a handy guy, so I said, 'My son is going to be heading out there this weekend,' because my son had a relationship with him and was helping him get to various appointments because he lived far out and didn't have a drivers' license because he was sentenced for a DUI."

"So we went out there on a Sunday," Day continued, "brought him some food and I went to work on the pellet stove and my son, unbeknownst to me, went out to his truck and got a handgun that he wanted to show the Navy SEAL."

"So the Navy SEAL picked it up—and he's a felon so he shouldn't have been handling that gun—and I was in the room and that's how I got charged with aiding and abetting a felon in possession of a firearm," Day explained.

Day has endured a firestorm that has lasted more than three years.

"I think this whole ordeal started when I made my original decision to quietly recuse myself from same-sex marriage," Day told CBN News.

"In Oregon, it's not a requirement that a circuit court judge marries anybody, but when the law changed I had a decision to make and that decision was to gently, quietly recuse myself and that eventually began a bit of a firestorm," he said.

"I don't think they expected me to fight," he said. "They came to me and my attorneys and said, 'If you just resign, this will all go away.'"

"I can't resign; I didn't do anything wrong," the judge told CBN News during an interview in 2017. "I simply, as a person of faith, chose to recuse myself from a non-judicial act and stay in conformity with my principles."

Despite the hardships he's faced over the past three and a half years, Day says he wouldn't trade it.

"Sometimes when you're in a—I think you see a different side of God that you can only see in that trial and it expands your understanding of His relentless, and I mean relentless, goodness and His kindness," Day said.

Oregon State Bar spokeswoman Kateri Walsh confirmed to The Statesman Journal that they are investigating two ethics complaints against Day.

If evidence concerning misconduct is found, Day's case would go before a trial panel hearing instead of a jury trial.

Day's attorneys told the newspaper they would prefer his case be tried in open court before a jury.

"It is unfortunate that the Judicial Fitness Commission proceedings did not have the same safeguards as trial by jury, because if it did, we think they would agree that Judge Day was a thoughtful and caring jurist, dedicated to the citizens of Marion County and all of the participants in the Veterans Treatment Court," Day's attorneys told the newspaper Tuesday. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here.