Trial Postponed Again For Innocent Oregon Coach

Having rejected the DA’s “offer” to pay $20,000.00 to make this go away, Dave Samuelson was about to have his day in court, or so he thought!

By US~Observer Staff

Shannon Wood and Dave Samuelson giving an award

Clatsop County, OR –

On November 2, 2021, 63-year-old Dave Samuelson of Seaside was well prepared to stand trial for allegedly touching his assistant coach Shannon Wood on the outside of her yoga pants and “annoying her.” Clatsop County

District Attorney Ron Brown originally charged Samuelson with one count of Sexual Harassment/Abuse but later stacked charges, by adding another 9 counts.

Clatsop ADA Paul Charas sporting a “thug life” beanie, which is apropos for someone prosecuting an innocent man. Image: Facebook

Clatsop County Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Paul Charas submitted “new” evidence – a text message – during the pre-trial hearing on October 28, 2021. Charas, who is factually acting as DA Ron Brown’s puppet for purposes of prosecuting Dave Samuelson, possessed the evidence long before intentionally handing it over at the last moment. He knew the trial would be postponed for the ninth time because of this calculated move. ADA Charas represented to Samuelson’s Attorney, Rich Cohen, that he thought they had already provided the text to Cohen. Charas’ deception to Cohen and ultimately the court is easily exposed by simply asking the following question; Why turn over evidence immediately prior to trial if you thought that evidence had already been turned over to the defense? If Charas actually believed the defense had the text there would be no need to make it an issue at the last moment – Clearly, Charas’ excuse (deception) is actually very childish and most certainly not believable.

Note that Ron Brown was originally prosecuting Dave Samuelson, but according to ADA Charas during the October 28th hearing, DA Ron Brown is now in fear for his family’s safety because of what the US~Observer has published. Why in the world would Brown be in fear of the truth? He has had many months to call us and attempt to correct any information we have published but we haven’t heard one word from him.

Keep in mind as you read on that every time a trial is set the innocent defendant, Samuelson, must pay for having witnesses served. He must also pay for his Attorney’s prep time, etc. etc., and both DA Ron Brown and his puppet ADA Paul Charas know this fact all too well as they have used this ploy on other defendants in an effort to beat them into submission – forcing them to accept plea bargains.

A Close Look at the Last Minute, So-Called Evidence

The evidence is simply a text from Dave Samuelson to Shannon Wood stating in so many words that the two of them (Samuelson and Wood) needed to get their heads together regarding the Jewell Basketball program and that Wood needs to get over differences between the two. These differences were over Woods’ actions or extracurricular activities that Samuelson knew about. According to one witness, Wood was trying to accuse Samuelson of wrongdoing to get the focus off of her getting drunk at the Clatsop County Fair and then having a student with only a drivers permit drive her home with her two minor children allegedly in the car. According to Samuelson, who, according to eyewitnesses, has never done anything inappropriate to Wood, he was telling Wood they needed to get on with sports and that she needed to get her false allegations behind her. Little did Samuelson know that Wood would go to a corrupt prosecutor(s) who would attempt to use Samuelson’s sarcastic text statements to build guilt into something from absolutely nothing.

District Attorney’s Witness List

A pretrial hearing was held on October 21, 2021. Assistant District Attorney Paul Charas informed the court that the state would only be calling four witnesses, Clatsop County Deputy Sheriff Eric Dotson and Sergeant Chance Moore, Shannon Wood, and Ann Samuelson (Dave Samuelson’s wife, who under law cannot be compelled to testify for the prosecution). The defense in this case plan on calling approximately 40 witnesses.

“How this case has been allowed to cost the good citizens of Clatsop County their hard-earned tax dollars is beyond me, as I have investigated and written extensively on this case,” Edward Snook, editor-in-chief of the US~Observer said shaking his head. He continued, “My investigation has shown Wood has allegedly made false allegations against other individuals, and that she has clear motives to falsely accuse Samuelson.”

The Hard Facts

DA Ron Brown

The continued pursuit of Dave Samuelson by District Attorney Ron Brown, “the most evil man in Clatsop County,” can and most probably is motivated by politics. Ann Samuelson is a former Clatsop County Commissioner who stood against the DA’s Office on several issues while she was a commissioner. Keeping a prosecution alive that has no physical evidence and no other corroborating witnesses reeks of political retaliation.

Even still, let’s look at the hard facts surrounding Shannon Wood’s claims.

According to highly credible sources, during the time that Wood claims Samuelson “touched her butt with yoga pants on and annoyed her,” she allegedly took part in the following acts, or arranged for them to occur:

Wood coached little kids’ basketball with Dave Samuelson. The Wood and Samuelson families went clam digging together. Wood asked Dave Samuelson to haul her husband’s truck to a shop on his trailer. These things occurred during the timeframe in which Wood claims Samuelson was abusing her.

The Samuelson’s allowed Wood to use their Home Depot credit card to get new flooring for her house with the understanding she would pay it back. Shannon Wood then reportedly continued to use it and didn’t pay. The Samuelson’s were notified by Home Depot that $1,300.00 was owed and no payment had been made in 3 months. They put a stop to Wood’s use of the card and demanded she pay the balance. Wood reportedly paid the debt approximately two weeks before she accused Dave Samuelson of multiple counts of Sexual Harassment/Abuse. This occurred during the timeframe in which Wood accused Samuelson of abusing her.

Wood’s son and Samuelson’s grandson, who he has custody of, were friends. This helped build the relationship between the Wood and Samuelson families. Shannon Wood was “treated like a daughter by me and my wife, Ann,” according to Samuelson. Wood and her family would hang out at the Samuelson’s home quite often. This occurred during the timeframe in which Wood accused him of abusing her.

After two years of coaching little kids’ basketball and varsity basketball together, Samuelson was approached by a student athlete’s parent with damning news about Shannon Wood. Samuelson was told, “Wood stayed in the same motel room as Brian Meier during an out-of-town school volleyball tournament, and the kids were all talking about it.” This occurred during the timeframe in which Wood accused Samuelson of abusing her.

On September 24, 2019, just one day after a student’s parent told Samuelson about their concern regarding Shannon Wood’s possible indiscretion, Samuelson informed Steve Phillips, Jewell’s school Superintendent.

Then, on September 27, 2019, just three days later, Shannon Wood or Superintendent Steve Phillips, “retaliated against Dave” and contacted the sheriff’s department with allegations that he had sexually harassed her. According to the police report, Wood claimed Dave Samuelson had, “repeatedly grabbed her butt and made lewd comments to her.” Wood’s criminal report also mentioned that Samuelson was allegedly stalking her, and Wood made the claim he had “attempted to kiss” her around August of 2018 – which is over a full year before she brought the allegations to the police. And keep in mind, this occurred during the timeframe in which Wood accused Samuelson of abusing her.

When questioned by Deputy Moore, Samuelson said that his relationship with Shannon Wood was like a father-daughter type. Samuelson claimed Wood had told him she loved him on numerous occasions. To Samuelson, his relationship with Wood was never sexual in nature. She was “Coach” to him, and their relationship was familial. And again, this occurred during the timeframe in which Wood accused Samuelson of abusing her.

Shannon Wood’s Letter to Dave Samuelson Completely Exposes Her

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In a letter Wood delivered to Samuelson on February 8, 2019, just seven months prior to her accusing him, Wood told Samuelson she loved him. This letter was written after the date Wood claimed Samuelson “grabbed” her butt and tried to kiss her (in her police report filed later). Shannon Wood’s letter stated in part, “The undoubted support I receive from you is priceless and I would not be who I am today without it. I cannot thank you enough for the love and support you have shown me since October 31, 2017. That will always be the date I will remember that changed my life… I appreciate you more than words can say… I sincerely appreciate you taking me on this wild journey and welcoming not only me but my family into yours… Love Shannon.”

Samuelson said, “if I committed the crimes Shannon claimed then why would she write such a wonderful letter to me – and why, if I was stalking her, and sexually abusing and harassing her, would she ask me to take care of her child for the night, six weeks prior to her accusations?”

The truth is she would not have unless it was retaliation!

One sentence in the letter Wood wrote to Samuelson is quite revealing. Wood wrote, “thank you for dealing with all of my crazy and helping me control it.” What did she mean when she called herself crazy? Again, according to the police report, Wood claimed Samuelson was sexually harassing her long before her heart-felt letter where she said Dave Samuelson’s involvement in her life had been “priceless.”

If Samuelson had been committing the alleged crimes that Wood stated, and it really bothered her, why didn’t she go to law enforcement before September 26, 2019?

Furthermore, if he had grabbed her butt and was doing what she said, wouldn’t there be witnesses? Wouldn’t the school staff, basketball players, bus drivers, chaperones, or others at the games have seen him doing the things Wood has accused him of? According to US~Observer sources, not one person has corroborated Wood’s “lies about Dave.” Let’s not forget that a deputy testifying that they investigated a case does not make them a witness to anything having happened – they can only state what they did and were told.

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Wood’s Rejected Restraining Order

Wood attempted to get a restraining and stalking order against Samuelson. Judge Brownhill obviously was not buying Wood’s story and rejected it by dismissing Shannon Wood’s attempted order. The order was denied by the judge on September 27, 2019.

We have no doubt that jurors in Clatsop County are intelligent enough to see the overwhelming support, testimony and evidence in favor of Dave Samuelson’s innocence. If not, then there is a whole other level of corruption in Clatsop County.

Editor’s Note: The US~Observer will be publishing a complete report on Samuelson’s trial. Anyone with information of anyone involved in this case are urged to contact the US~Observer at 541-474-7885 or by email to editor@usobserver.com.