Benton County will not pursue trials that rely on former officer as witness

By BENNETT HALL

Gazette-Times reporter

The Benton County District Attorney's Office has decided to not prosecute about 100 pending cases that relied on testimony from former Corvallis Police Officer Dave Cox.

"Any Cox case, I'm done with it," District Attorney John Haroldson said Wednesday.

The status of the cases had been up in the air since Sept. 17, when Haroldson's office learned that Cox had been placed on administrative leave by the Corvallis Police Department while it investigated potential policy violations by the six-year veteran.

Cox resigned Nov. 1 and has since reportedly moved out of the state.

The police department turned over the findings of its investigation to the state Department of Justice, which is still evaluating potential criminal charges against Cox.

Haroldson said the cases his office is dropping cover a variety of crimes, though most were for driving under the influence of intoxicants. They were initially dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled later, but Haroldson said that's no longer an option.

"There were some particular points that came to my attention … that bear on issues of credibility," he said of Cox's standing as a prosecution witness. "He was not a viable witness any longer."

Police Chief Gary Boldizsar said he was not surprised by Haroldson's decision.

"It's not uncommon for a case to be dismissed when a witness is not available," Boldizsar said. "I fully understand the reason for it."

Attorney Jennifer Nash, who heads the local defense consortium, noted that something similar happened last year after another Corvallis police officer, Ryan Thayer, quit amid allegations that he had sex with an Oregon State University student while on duty.

Thayer's pending cases were also dismissed.

Nash said that although dismissing Cox's cases might let some offenders off the hook, it was the right thing to do in the circumstances.

"When the integrity of the system is compromised," she said, "it's the system that has to be protected."