A federal judge Tuesday ordered a transgender woman’s pretrial release to a halfway house after her defense lawyer informed the court that Columbia County jail was holding her in solitary confinement because it refused to house her with either male or women prisoners.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman granted Julie Mikela Winters’ release to the Northwest Regional Re-Entry Center, calling it a “much better place to be temporarily than solitary in Columbia County, for sure.”
Winters, 46, is accused of waving and then throwing a butcher-type knife at a federal officer outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on June 24 after officers headed toward her once she had lit an illegal firework near the front gate about 11:15 p.m. , according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Lewis Burkhart. The knife missed an officer by about two to three feet, he said.
Winters is accused in federal court of attempted assault of a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and intimidating a federal officer.
“This is extraordinarily concerning because she’s on pretrial release for a state case,” where she’s also accused of assaulting a police officer in December, Burkhart said.
That December case in Multnomah County stalled because no defense lawyer was available for Winters, according to Burkhart.
What led to her December arrest is in dispute. Burkhart said Winters demanded police give her a “courtesy ride” home from a traffic accident and charged at them when they refused, leading to police pinning her to the ground and striking her several times.
“She has shown an inability to follow police officers’ directives and reacts violently,” Burkhart argued in court. “There’s a real danger to the public and specific peace officers in this case.”
Her defense lawyer countered that the December arrest occurred after Winters had called police for a ride home because her car was disabled and she had her cat and other possessions with her.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael Benson said the body camera footage showed police “quickly knocked” her to the ground, and while she was on the ground trying to cover her face and in distress, an officer who had fallen to the ground was “hitting her repeatedly,” in the face “over and over again.”
Burkhart urged the judge to keep Winters in custody as a danger to the community. Yet if released, he asked that Winters be prohibited from returning to an area near the ICE building on South Macadam Avenue.
Benson requested Winters’ release to the federal halfway house. He also noted that Winters lives across the street from the ICE building and is looking to move because of the post-traumatic stress she’s endured from the nightly disturbances outside the building, which have become the focal point of anti-ICE demonstrations since early June.
The night of her arrest, Winters told officers that she had been trying to go to sleep when “bombs’’ continued to go off outside the ICE building, according to a federal affidavit. Officers have fired tear gas, chemical munitions and thrown flash-bang grenades to clear demonstrators, and protesters have used bullhorns and loud recordings to taunt officers on some nights.
Benson asked that Winters be allowed to return to her residence during the daytime hours to get her belongings and to feed her cat, pointing out that most of the demonstrations have erupted in the evening hours outside the ICE building.
The judge asked who had been taking care of Winters’ cat since her arrest.
“I have been taking care of the cat, your Honor,” Benson told the judge.
“Thank you for taking care of the cat, Mr. Benson,” Beckerman responded.
The judge ordered Winters’ release to the federal halfway house as soon as a bed is available. She also ordered that Winters undergo a mental health evaluation and counseling if needed, and not possess any guns, knives, fireworks, lasers, mortars or other destructive devices.
Beckerman also prohibited her from returning to her apartment and ordered that she remain out of an area around the ICE building, bordered by South Gaines Street to the north, South Boundary Street to the south, Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard to the west and the Willamette River to the east.
The judge acknowledged that the geographic restriction will complicate the “cat-sitting problem” but said she’s sure that can be solved. A neighbor may be available, Benson told the judge.
“I think the most important thing is we want to keep you healthy and get you any treatment that you need and make that as easy as possible for you,” Beckerman told Winters.
Benson asked that the U.S. Marshals Service house Winters until the bed is available at the halfway house, instead of returning her to Columbia County, “so that she’s not in solitary.” She also was unable to obtain hormone medication in Columbia County, Benson said.
“I know that that’s unusual,” he said, “but the circumstances here are a little bit unusual.”
The judge said she’d talk to the U.S. Marshals and see what could be done and try to get a bed available at the Northwest Regional Re-Entry Center as soon as possible.
Columbia County Sheriff Brian Pixley Tuesday did not return email and phone messages seeking comment on the jail policy regarding the housing of transgender prisoners.
County spokesperson Mark Pacheco, though, said the jail’s practice is to house transgender prisoners with the gender of which they identify. Winters, who was under a U.S. Marshals hold, could have been held in an individual pod in the jail, but Pacheco said he did not know why.
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