Suspended Marion County Judge Vance Day faces upcoming criminal trial

Embattled Judge Vance Day is scheduled to stand trial April 17 on felony gun and official misconduct charges — the latest in a series of events that have left him suspended from the bench and stripped of power.

Day, who was appointed to the Marion County bench in 2011 by Gov. John Kitzhaber and elected to a six-year term in 2012, has long been in the public eye for his sometimes controversial actions, including refusing to marry same-sex couples, allowing a felon to handle a firearm and hanging an art display with a portrait of Adolf Hitler at the courthouse.

Day's 14-day trial will focus solely on the gun charges. Day insists the criminal charges are retaliation for his religious beliefs. But prosecutors maintain the indictment wasn't spurred by political or religious differences; it is because Day broke the law.

The criminal charges arose from Day's out-of-court conduct with Brian Shehan, a former Navy SEAL who participated in the Veteran's Treatment Court that Day presided over.

Read more: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/crime/2018/04/13/suspended-marion-county-judge-vance-day-faces-upcoming-criminal-trial/503011002/