— by Lin McNulty —
Following a defense motion to dismiss, San Juan Superior Court Judge Donald Eaton ruled in favor of a new trial for former Orcas High School teacher Gerald Grellet-Tinner on Tuesday, September 20.
Basically, said Gaylord, “it’s like hitting a restart button, back to March 2015.”
An appeal to the ruling, which released the 59-year old Grellet-Tinner from custody, was filed with Washington State Court of Appeals, Division 1 by San Juan Prosecutor on Friday, September 23.
Although County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord was not able to comment in a case still pending, he did state that such an appeal can take up to a year for a ruling.
So this teacher should be considered not guilty until proven otherwise. Why is he losing his job?
Why balk at an Appeal? If there is new evidence it should be brought out into the light.
Spirit Eagle
He should not have a job because he is still the subject of a criminal investigation involving improper sexual activity with one of his students. There is plenty in the case record and acknowledged by all parties to indicate that his interactions with the student were inappropriate. To insinuate that this person should simply be handed his job back is ridiculous.
The real story here is that the lead detective, a new hire to SJC, allegedly has behaved in such a manner that he may have compromised the case to the point that a convicted individual may now walk free. It sounds as if the Sherriff is taking the proper steps to investigate the detective, but the damage is now done. The likelyhood of Justice actually happening in this case is now very low.
It sounds like there is new evidence; thus, the new trial. If that results in a different outcome, that’s how justice happens. Alleged misbehavior by the detective is a whole other matter.
The new evidence IS the detectives misbehavior.
Not true; the new evidence is his supposed allegations about the victim.