WW welcomes letters to the editor via mail, e-mail or fax. Letters must be signed by the author and include the author's street address and phone number for verification. Preference will be given to letters of 250 words or less. WHEELING AND DEALING Your story "Hot Deals" [WW, Nov. 11, 1998] may have incorrectly left your readers with the impression that current Oregon law leaves buyers high and dry when buying a car which an Oregon dealer purchased from an out-of-state seller if that seller later claims the car was purchased with a bad check. In fact, so long as a buyer qualifies as a good-faith purchaser, i.e., is not aware that there may be a problem with the title, ORS 72.4030 provides for that buyer to receive good title even if its immediate seller paid with a bad check when he acquired it. (That, by the way, is what happened--there were two bad personal checks involved, not a counterfeit cashier's check as you reported.) One of my clients bought one of the trucks your article described from a local dealer, Truck Shack, LLC. Portland police later seized it, as apparently happened to the customer described in your article, and intended to turn it over to the gentleman from Montana based solely on his claim that it was stolen. We immediately filed suit to recover possession and obtained a temporary restraining order from Presiding Multnomah County Judge Ellis preventing the police from releasing the truck to the Montana claimant. That enabled us to settle the case quickly and cheaply. His seller (Truck Shack) agreed to, and has, paid the cost of that settlement. My client is now back in possession of his truck and will shortly be receiving a clean Oregon title from DMV. It is unfortunate that the City of Portland has a policy of seizing vehicles under circumstances such as these. Where there has not been a theft of a vehicle in the usual sense, but fraud committed against an out-of-state seller, local law enforcement should not be summarily seizing the property of a local citizen who had no part in the fraud before a court decides who is entitled to receive title. You might inquire of city hall why such a policy exists. Theodore E. Sims Sims & Sims EVERYBODY GOT IT WRONG The Oregonian got it wrong (as usual), but Willamette Week also got it wrong ["Battered Truth," WW, Nov. 18, 1998]--the jury got it wrong. To let Jenkins off completely is a miscarriage of justice. He did something very wrong and should have paid some penalty. This is another example of our legal system failing to give justice. Imagine: a thug takes his gun and goes to a Hillsboro convenience store to get some cash. Instead of complying, the clerk reaches for his gun. So the thug shoots the clerk. He rightly pleads self-defense. "If I hadn't shot him, he would have shot me." The story from the witnesses wasn't clear, and the clerk may have been drinking. The thug was handsome and looked like the boy next door. Everyone knows clerks in convenience stores are at the bottom of the social ladder. So the jury lets the thug off--self-defense. R.L.Crislip Northeast Oregon Street THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE... Thank you for printing the most true account of the events that occurred to Richard Underwood Jr. ["Battered Truth," WW, Nov. 18, 1998]. During the entire period this case unfolded I have felt as if the truth was disguised for the sake of a better report, and this article, while setting the record straight, verifies that feeling. The media in Portland seems to have an infatuation for reporting events in our area with bias, to a point in which I believe little of what I read or see. I feel sorrow for all parties involved with the beating because the media first displayed the youths involved as being horrible people and now leads us to believe the Underwood family misled us. I hope this is a learning experience for the local television stations and The Oregonian. Maybe they should focus on violence that is not so isolated and report the facts. If I want sensationalism, I will buy a tabloid. Thank you, Willamette Week. This is an excellent article. Jesse Cornett Northwest Hoyt Street THE BIGGER PICTURE In comments on the film (and WW pick) Deep Throat, KM calls it "the Rolls Royce of porn films" [Screen, WW, Nov. 18, 1998]. I'm not sure what that means, but I do support your mission to provide your audiences with an understanding of how their worlds work so they can make a difference. Readers and potential viewers of the film may be interested to know that for the "star," it was the Sherman tank of job opportunities. According to her published accounts, a pimp and his accomplices kidnapped, imprisoned and beat her, threatened her with a handgun and sexually assaulted her in order to make a "fantasy" for your entertainment. She never made any money from it; the criminals did. Let the buyer be aware. Guruseva Mason Coordinator, Transition Projects, Inc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published December 9, 1998