Last year, Brenda J. Hall was convicted of second-degree burglary and second-degree theft for stealing over $1,000 in fireworks from a Winlock warehouse owned by Jake’s Fireworks.
The former employee — who had been fired around 2015, according to court documents — was later sentenced to six months of community custody.
On Wednesday, the 52-year-old Toledo resident returned to Lewis County Superior Court to face one count each of second-degree burglary and second-degree theft.
The reason? Hall had allegedly stolen an estimated $3,000 in fireworks from the same Winlock warehouse owned by Jake’s Fireworks.
She was also charged with one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
During her preliminary appearance, Hall informed the court she had filed an appeal for the previous conviction, and requested that Judge Joely Yeager be disqualified due to her involvement in that case.
According to court documents, Yeager found the defendant guilty of the burglary and theft charges following a bench trial in March 2025. She later issued Hall’s sentence.
Yeager replied that Hall had a right to file an affidavit regarding the potential disqualification, but said Hall hadn’t yet done so.
After discussing the matter with her attorney for the day, Rachael Tiller, Hall agreed to continue with the preliminary hearing. Tiller indicated Hall would speak about the disqualification with her appointed attorney, Don Blair, at a future date.
Yeager set Hall’s bail at $10,000 cash or bond, in agreement with the state’s request, on the basis that Hall had been released from DOC supervision a little over a month ago. She also expressed concern that Hall would not be able to follow the court’s orders.
Yeager explained she was not making her ruling based on any knowledge of the past case, but rather the same information about Hall’s criminal history that would be available to any judge.
According to court documents, on Jan. 25, two suspects allegedly entered the warehouse through a “roll up door” and then stole fireworks from a tractor trailer.
The warehouse manager observed surveillance footage of the incident and allegedly identified Hall as one of the suspects. The other suspect is not identified in the documents.
A Lewis County sheriff’s deputy compared Hall’s Department of Licensing photo with the surveillance footage from the incident and concluded Hall was the woman in the video.
After further investigation, the deputy executed search warrants on a vehicle owned by Hall and an outbuilding at her residence, where he allegedly discovered a number of boxes that were confirmed stolen by the warehouse manager.
While executing a search warrant on the residence, the deputy allegedly discovered a loaded .22-caliber rifle “in plain view in the living room,” according to court documents.
Hall pleaded not guilty to both counts during an arraignment on Thursday.
A trial-setting hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5.
