A man accused of assaulting and harassing an Asian American woman on a bus, for now, won’t have to stand trial after a judge ruled the county failed to assign a lawyer to him in a timely matter.
Peter Eschright faced charges in the January 2021 incident in Portland, Oregon.
As AsAmNews reported last year, Eschright allegedly kicked a woman in the shin as she walked by and made racial remarks about her and COVID-19.
KPTV reports Eschright failed to appear in court on the charges numerous times. Despite numerous delays, the judge dismissed the charges because the county failed to assign him a defense attorney.
It’s possible he could face the charges at a later time.
A recent report from the American Bar Association found Oregon only has a third of the public defenders it needs.
“There is a shortage of public defenders due to decades of neglect by the state of Oregon and all three branches when it comes to public defense,” said Carl Macpherson, the Executive Director for Metropolitan Public Defender.
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This is the ongoing problem with the kangaroo court- suspect fails to go to court, lawyer fails to go to court, case is dropped. Typical for transient/homeless perpetrator’s “minor” crimes.