A 31-year-old man who pounced on a sheriff’s deputy in the dark, locked basement of the Multnomah County Courthouse was sentenced to three years of probation Tuesday.
Rory Ian Dwayne Gaines had punched and scratched Deputy Steve Meyer in the face Jan. 9, but Gaines avoided a prison sentence Tuesday in part because Meyer wanted to give Gaines a chance to rebuild his life.
“What Deputy Meyer wants for Mr. Gaines ...is that he be clean and be a good father and never subject his child to anything like that experience again,” said Deputy District Attorney Brian Davidson.
Gaines had inexplicably brought his son with him into the basement that winter day. Davidson said he doesn’t know Gaines’ reasons, but Davidson suspects Gaines was under the influence of drugs.
It’s unclear how the pair entered because the basement is closed off to the public.
Security staff saw two people, thought to both be children, on surveillance cameras. Meyer volunteered to go down to the basement and escort the children out.
Meyer soon discovered one of the two was Gaines.
Gaines punched Meyer in the face, knocking off his glasses, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The two fell to the ground and Gaines punched Meyer again and “clawed at his face with his fingernails” before the deputy was able to pin down Gaines and other deputies arrived, the affidavit states.
Meyer said Gaines tried to get his son to help during the scuffle by yelling at him to join in, according to the affidavit.
Tuesday, Gaines pleaded guilty to felony fourth-degree assault. It’s a felony because Gaines attacked the deputy in front of his child. State sentencing guidelines call for a prison sentence of about 1 ½ years.
Gaines has a criminal history that includes car theft, being a felon in possession of a firearm and attempting to elude police. He previously served time in jail, and was last convicted in 2016.
Although Meyer didn’t attend the plea and sentencing hearing, Gaines said he was sorry.
“It was just poor choices and circumstances that led me to the courthouse, and into a space I wasn’t supposed to be in,” Gaines said. “I apologize for the way things rolled out. I wasn’t in a correct state of mind at the time.”
His defense attorney, Grant Hartley, said Gaines isn’t working because he’s focusing on drug treatment, which he’s attending four days a week. Gaines also said he’s been attending mental health counseling, has found a good mentor, and has been working on rebuilding his family life.
Hartley said Gaines has joint custody of his son.
Gaines will serve his probation through the Multnomah County Justice Reinvestment Program, which is designed to keep defendants out of jail or prison and connect them with drug treatment, a place to live and other necessities that could help stabilize their lives.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Kelly Skye told Gaines that jumping the deputy in front of his son “had to be very traumatic.” She hoped Gaines could help his son break the cycle of children who grow up to follow in their parents’ footsteps by going to prison.
“So you have a huge responsibility on your shoulders,” the judge said.
“If there’s any blessing, it’s that you chose Deputy Meyer because he‘s probably the nicest guy in the courthouse," Skye said. "He’s big enough that he could have done a lot of damage to you had he been that kind of person, but he’s not.”
-- Aimee Green
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