News The Oregon State Bar on Saturday dismissed a complaint against Sean Riddell, the former chief of the Oregon Department of Justice's criminal justice division.Riddell, a former gang prosecutor in the Multnomah County District Attorney's office, came to DOJ in 2009 as the protege of then-Attorney General John Kroger, himself a former federal mob prosecutor.Riddell's aggressive approach cost a couple ...   More

News As long expected, the former interim director of the Oregon Department of Energy, Mark Long, has filed a lawsuit against outgoing Oregon Attorney General John Kroger, his former chief criminal attorney, Sean Riddell, and the Oregon Department of Justice, over their conduct during an investigation.The lawsuit was filed today in Marion County Circuit Court. It was expected because Long filed a tort claim ...   More

News The continuing saga of the Oregon Department of Justice's aborted investigation into whether state Department of Energy staffers wrongfully steered a contract to a company run by Gov. John Kitzhaber's companion, Cylvia Hayes, has taken another turn.Sean Riddell, the former top DOJ criminal lawyer who led the investigation, was demoted in June. The official reasons given by Attorney General John Kroger ...   More

News Lawyers for Mark Long, the former interim director of the Oregon Department of Energy, have asked Gov. John Kitzhaber to direct Attorney General John Kroger to appoint a special prosecutor who would investigate the deletion of emails by former Department of Justice criminal chief Sean Riddell."We write to urge you to direct Attorney General John Kroger, pursuant to ORS 180.070, to conduct immediately ...   More

News Attorney General John Kroger faced some tough days last week. First, he endured another Oregonian column from former Bureau of Labor and Industries Commissioner Jack Roberts advising him to return to academia. Then on Friday, Kroger announced his chief criminal prosecutor, Sean Riddell, was stepping down after less than two years on the job. That move came in the wake of negative publicity of ...   More

News WW has learned that four Oregon Department of Energy employees will be reinstated today, marking the latest twist in story that began with an Oregon Department of Justice investigation into ODOE contracting practices that last August.The investigation has received intense scrutiny because the employees were accused of steering state business to Cylvia Hayes, the long-time companion of Gov. John Kitzhaber.The ...   More

News Lawyers for the former director of the Oregon Department of Energy, Mark Long, filed a bar complaint (PDF) on May 13 against Sean Riddell, chief counsel for the Oregon Department of Justice's criminal division. The complaint levels serious accusations against Riddell, a top lieutenant to Attorney General John Kroger. "In the course of conducting a criminal investigation, Mr. Riddell repeatedly and ...   More

News As the probe continues into whether the Oregon Department of Energy unlawfully steered business to a company co-owned by Gov. John Kitzhaber's longtime companion, two well-connected defense lawyers have gone on the offensive against the chief investigator in the case.WW has obtained a 30-page letter (PDF) in which Dave Frohnmayer and Bill Gary outline a series of accusations against Sean Riddell (in ...   More

News As reported in this week's Murmurs column, word in political circles is that longtime Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk (pictured left) is considering stepping down after 30 years on the job.Sean Riddell, a former deputy for Schrunk who now heads the criminal division at the Oregon Department of Justice, is already gunning to take over the DA's office.But the lawyer often viewed as the ...   More

News In today's Murmurs column, we reported Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk is rumored to be considering whether to step down before his four-year term expires in 2012.Insiders mentioned two candidates actively seeking to replace Schrunk, if and when he retires. Rod Underhill did not immediately return a phone call for comment. As a chief deputy in Schrunk's office, Underhill has long been ...   More