Embezzlement case against top executive at Portland ad firm dissolves due to dearth of public defenders

Oregon’s ongoing public-defense crisis has ended the embezzlement case against a Portland advertising executive.

After three failed attempts over four months to find a court-appointed attorney for Isaac Lee Morris, a Multnomah County Circuit judge dismissed all charges Thursday against the former chief product officer for Thesis, a digital marketing and ad agency based in Portland.

Multnomah County judges dismiss a handful of criminal cases each week because it’s unconstitutional to prosecute someone who can’t afford and isn’t provided legal representation. Most such defendants are accused of relatively small-dollar crimes.

Morris, however, faced a 35-count criminal indictment accusing him of aggravated identity theft, first-degree theft, computer crime and fraudulent use of a credit card.

A separate civil lawsuit filed by Thesis accused Morris, 36, of bilking $815,000 from the company in 2020 and 2021 and spending the money on cameras, clothing, musical instruments, electronics, exercise machines and “many other items.”

“Morris used techniques of deception like returning some legitimately purchased items for credit and then using the credit for Morris’ personal, unauthorized purchases,” the lawsuit claimed.

Thesis dropped the civil lawsuit in December 2022 without a settlement, but left the door open to refile the litigation later.

The criminal indictment filed last November doesn’t specify the upper bounds of the amount Morris is accused of stealing; instead it specifies a minimum of at least $100,000.

Liz Merah, a spokesperson for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors objected to the dismissal of the case and plan to restart the process of filing an indictment “in the near future.”

“Having to bring cases back to grand jury is manifestly unfair to victims — both because justice is delayed and because they have to go through the grand jury process again,” Merah said in a statement. “We certainly hope that the court will appoint counsel if/when we get to arraignment.”

Some 2,500 people in Oregon currently lack representation in an active criminal case, according to state figures, including 100 people who are behind bars. A recent report concluded the state needs to hire about 500 more public defenders to dig out from the backlog, at a cost of roughly $230 million a year.

A spokesperson for Metropolitan Public Defender, the nonprofit that provides the bulk of the legal representation for Portland’s indigent defendants, said judges prioritize appointing attorneys to cases involving violent crimes and those where the defendant remains in custody.

Morris, who is out of custody, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Formerly known as eROI, Thesis said it had 340 employees in 2022 and lists Adobe, Taco Bell and the Oregon College Savings Fund as recent clients. Thesis CEO Keely York declined to comment.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com or @pdxzane.

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