FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 15, 2018
Vesther J.J. Brown found to be Guilty Except for Insanity, sentenced to Psychiatric Security Review Board
Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill announced 21-year-old Vesther J.J. Brown appeared before Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Nan Waller on November 14, 2018 and was found to be Guilty Except for Insanity (GEI).
Brown was committed to the Oregon State Hospital and placed under the jurisdiction of the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB) for a time not to exceed 20 years.
For additional information on the PSRB, please click here to visit the State’s website.
At the Nov. 14, 2018 hearing, Brown waived his right to a jury trial. Instead, he agreed to a stipulated facts trial, which allowed both the State of Oregon and Brown’s criminal defense attorney to present exhibits to the judge to make a conviction determination. This was not a change of plea hearing.
Judge Waller, upon reviewing the exhibits, found Brown to be Guilty Except for Insanity on all 22 counts listed in the indictment, which can be obtained by clicking here. In her ruling, Judge Waller found Brown to be suffering from a qualifying mental disorder.
This investigation started on August 21, 2017 when officers assigned to the Portland Police Bureau responded to calls of a person being stabbed with a pen and reports of shots fired in the area of Southeast 162nd Avenue and Southeast Division Street. During this investigation law enforcement spoke with an individual who told them that he was driving and that the defendant was in the passenger seat of his vehicle. While the vehicle was in motion, Brown stabbed the driver, an acquaintance, with a pen in the neck.
As officers were conducting the initial assault investigation, they received information that shots had been fired from a nearby apartment complex. Law enforcement responded to the area and observed an apartment door ajar, blood in the apartment and a person who was bleeding and holding a towel over her chest wounds.
The female in the apartment told law enforcement that her brother, the defendant, shot her. The victim also reported that Brown shot his eight year old brother. Inside the apartment, law enforcement located evidence that multiple gunshots had been fired. Police learned that after the shooting, Brown fled the apartment in a blue truck with his younger brother who was suffering from a gunshot wound.
While the Portland Police Bureau continued to investigate the stabbing and shooting, the PPB Major Crash Team responded to the scene of an injury crash at Southeast 156th Avenue and Southeast Division Street. There, law enforcement found a van and a blue truck with extensive damage. According to previously filed court documents, based on the physical evidence collected by the Portland Police Bureau, the blue truck stuck the van from behind at high speed, potentially 55 miles per hour to 75 mph. Police determined there were eight people in the van at the time of impact.
Paramedics responded to the crash and Brown seen standing over his brother. The child was conscious but bleeding from his back and stomach. Police learned from the child that his brother, Brown, shot he and his sister.
At the crash scene, defendant told police that he had gun in his pocket, according to court documents. The officer recovered a.357 revolver. Law enforcement determined three of the five rounds had been fired.
This case was prosecuted by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team (CAT). MDT and CAT unit is responsible for reviewing and coordinating all child abuse and neglect cases in Multnomah County. To learn more about the MDT and CAT unit, click here.
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Contact: Brent Weisberg, Communications Director
Phone: 503.988.6567
Email: Brent.Weisberg@mcda.us