Clackamas River Water official arrested after bar fight

An attorney for Katherine Kehoe said her case would raise 'serious issues of self-defense'

By Matthew Graham

The Clackamas Review, Oct 27, 2009, Updated Nov 3, 2009 (19 Reader comments)

Kehoe

submitted photo Clackamas County Sheriff's Office / Clackamas Review

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An elected official who was arrested over the weekend after an alleged fight outside an Oregon City bar was released after six days in jail last week.

Katherine Kehoe, a member of the Clackamas River Water District Board of Commissioners, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday, Oct. 24 on a Measure 11 felony assault charge after allegedly striking a man on the head with a beer bottle outside of the Rivershore Bar in Oregon City.

Kehoe's attorney, Mark Gorski, said the case would raise "serious issues of self defense" when it reaches trial, which was set for Jan. 5.

Kehoe appeared in court via a remote video feed from the Clackamas County Jail on Thursday for a hearing. About half a dozen community leaders, including State Rep. Bill Kennemer, appeared on her behalf at the courthouse.

Gorski argued that she should be released on her own recognizance.

"All of these folks, judge, would provide information that would make it abundantly clear that Mrs. Kehoe is not a flight risk," he said.

The judge, Robert Selander, said that Measure 11 crimes have a minimum requirement of $50,000 bail, and set her bail at that amount, lowering it from the original $250,000. He also ordered that she have no contact with the victim, consume no alcohol or controlled substances and possess no weapons upon her release.

Oregon City police officers were called at 12:19 a.m. on Oct. 24 from the Rivershore Bar where an alleged assault had taken place, said Lt. Jim Band of the Oregon City Police Department.

Band said Kehoe, who was with a man named Darren Christ, allegedly hit the victim with a beer bottle after Christ and the other man started fighting.

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