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Driver from last summer’s deadly Onalaska wreck back in court

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Joseph W. Rogerson is at risk of losing his deferred prosecution on last summer’s DUI, related to a head-on crash in Onalaska that left three teenagers dead.

Rogerson, now 37, was found to have been traveling in his own lane and not to blame for the July 13 wreck on state Route 508.

The Land Rover was carrying eight young people. Killed were its driver, Arnold W. Mullinax, 17, and Taylor N. Thompson, 13, both from Onalaska. Dakota L. Dunivin, 18, from Chehalis, died the following day at the hospital.

Rogerson, formerly of Chehalis, is being monitored because of his case in Lewis County District Court, but today he went before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court, charged with third-degree assault of a child.

Judge Richard Brosey noted the new case includes an allegation he was drinking and asked if prosecutors have filed a motion to revoke his deferred DUI.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said he had not, at this time.

Deferred prosecution is an arrangement in which a defendant can ask the court to defer a finding of guilt in return for agreeing to abide by certain conditions for a certain amount of time, according to Meyer.

Brosey today ordered Rogerson to wear an alcohol monitor bracelet which will detect if he drinks.

Rogerson was arrested on Friday by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office following an investigation involving a 7-year-old girl who told a counselor at R.E. Bennett Elementary School her step-father hit her in the arm, leaving a bruise.

The sheriff’s office said yesterday the girl, her mother and step-father had gone shooting out in the woods near Pe Ell the weekend before and when the girl tried to get Rogerson to stop hitting her mom, he punched the child. Charging documents in the case indicate the girl told him to stop and hit him in the arm, then he hit the girl in her arm.

Both adults denied it happened, but the girl’s older brother corroborated her statement. Both children told law enforcement they thought the grown ups had been drinking, according to court documents.

Rogerson was released yesterday on $10,000 unsecured bond, and was back in court today after the felony charged was filed.

Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke asked that the conditions of release be altered to allow Rogerson to go back to his home in Pe Ell, saying he was his grandfather’s sole care provider and the child is now with her actual father, based on a court order.

Rogerson’s arraignment is scheduled for June 16.
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For background, read “No felony charges forthcoming from triple-fatality Onalaska wreck” from Friday October 30, 2015, here [1]