I got to wondering about Paul Dorr yesterday and began googling to see if anything new had been reported. Nothing specifically new about Dorr. But then it occurred to me to check out Iowa Courts Online. Looks like Paul Dorr was charged with 5th Degree Criminal Mischief late last week.
5th degree criminal mischief is a simple misdemeanor in the state of Iowa. If convicted, Dorr faces up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine of $65-625.
Updated on 12/07/18: The Sioux City Journal reports that an initial court appearance has been scheduled for 01/22/19 at the Sioux County Courthouse in Orange City.
Updated on 01/22/19: The Sioux City Journal reports that Paul Dorr filed a not guilty plea to this charge on Saturday. A trial date hasn't yet been set. According to this source, he is still seeking an attorney.
Updated on 03/26/19: Paul Dorr appeared in court earlier today for a pretrial conference. We learned from the media that Magistrate Dan Pluim had issued an order on 02/14/19 that noted a possible conflict of interest.
Turns out that Pluim served on the Orange City Public Library's board of trustees a few years ago. Plus he checks out book occasionally. So he told everyone that he thinks that he should recuse himself from this case.
Sioux County attorney Tom Kunstle stated that he didn't think there would be a conflict.
Paul Dorr -- who still doesn't have an attorney -- also said that he doesn't think there would be a conflict. Then this happened:
Dorr informed Pluim that he runs an Iowa judicial reform initiative. “I’ve gone after many judges many times who were on the ballot,” Dorr said. “I’m well-known by judges for asking people to vote 'no' on them. I’ve never come after you.” If Pluim recused himself, Dorr was worried about potential bias against him from another judge or magistrate who would take over the case. “I may be at risk of landing with one that I’ve targeted in my political activities in the past,” Dorr said.After hearing that, Pluim decided to recuse himself from Dorr's case. A new judge will need to be assigned to this case.
The trial date has been set for 9:00 AM on Wednesday, April 24th. Then again, a new judge is being assigned. So most likely the case will get rescheduled.
Keep in mind that this is a simple misdemeanor case. If convicted, Dorr faces 30 days in jail. If that. Most likely, he'll receive a fine. But the case keeps dragging...