James Bernard Lynch(1932 - 2016) James B. Lynch, age 84, died at home in Boise, Idaho on March 15, 2016. Jim was born January 19, 1932 in Denver, Colorado to James J. and Elizabeth Lynch. He graduated from Boise High School in 1950 and attended Boise Junior College, where he obtained his AA degree in 1952. He attended the University of Idaho, obtaining his BS degree in 1954 and his LLB in 1956. He was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Jim married JoAnn McGuire at St. John's Cathedral on December 28, 1963. Jim served in the U.S. Air Force from 1958-1960 as a Judge Advocate and was stationed in Okinawa and Kansas. He began his law practice at Moffatt, Thomas in 1961 and served as Executive Secretary of the Idaho State Bar from 1963-1966. He practiced in the law firm of Coughlan, Imhoff, Christiansen & Lynch, which later became Imhoff & Lynch. That firm then became Lynch, Moore, Baskin and Parker. In 1955, he formed the firm of Lynch & Associates. He was Chairman of the Idaho State Bar Court Reform Committee in the early 1970's. Jim and his good friend, Tom Miller, traveled to Bar Associations throughout the State in achieving enactment of lower court reorganization, which he considered one of his greatest professional achievements. He also served as Chairman of the Idaho State Bar ADR, and as President of Inns of Court from 2005- 2006. He was licensed to practice in Idaho as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Jim was an avid golfer, and enjoyed many rounds of golf with good friends Tom Miller, Jack Barrett, Jack Rhoads, Larry Locuson, and others. In addition to golf, he enjoyed fly fishing, camping, skiing, backpacking and mountain climbing. Jim and JoAnn enjoyed many golf trips with Jo and Tom Miller and Linda and Larry Locuson, and traveled to Ireland, England, Switzerland, the Virgin Islands, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and took an Alaska cruise. Jim was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Jerry; and brother-in-law, Paul Cronin. He is survived by his wife, JoAnn; daughters, Kate Lynch and Ann Erwin and son-in-law, Jeff; granddaughters, Abbey and Maggie Erwin; brother, Pat Lynch; sister-in-law, Alice Cronin; and numerous nieces and nephews. A Memorial Mass will be held at 1:30 pm on Monday, March 21, 2016 at St. John's Catholic Cathedral, 804 N. 9th St., Boise, ID 83702. Donations may be made in Jim's name to the Boise High School Swim Team c/o Jeff Erwin, 4361 N. Cartwright Road, Boise, ID 83714. Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on Jim's memorial webpage at www.summersfuneral.com.

DUI arrest calls prosecutor’s second chance into question IdahoStatesman.com: Apr. 8- Katy Moeller Boise County officials embraced the opportunity to give a hardworking local attorney a second chance at a career in public service despite her troubled past — a decision that many will question following her Friday arrest on a felony DUI charge. Jolene Maloney, the county’s top prosecutor, had a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 when an officer gave her breath tests early Friday morning, an Ada County prosecutor said in court. Maloney, who was appointed as prosecutor a year ago and filed to seek election in November, was arrested at 12:20 a.m. Friday on Chinden Boulevard near 38th Street in Garden City, according to Idaho State Police. Boise County Commission Chairman Alan Ward said commissioners are going to “let the dust settle” before making any decisions about Maloney. He said they are conferring with the county’s contracted attorneys, as well as Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jay Rosenthal, about their options. “It’s simply too early to know exactly the path from here,” Ward said. They plan to discuss options at their regular meeting Tuesday. In addition to her role as prosecutor, Maloney had been serving as the human resources director for the county, Ward said. He said her job performance was “excellent.” “Her work has been wonderful,” he said. “She’s got energy, and she’s knowledgeable. I just can’t say enough on the work side. The work has been exceptional.” Maloney, 40, has been open about being an alcoholic in recovery. She has two DUIs on her record, from 2012 and 2013. Idaho law calls for charging a third DUI in a 10-year period as a felony. If convicted, Maloney faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000 and suspension of her driver’s license for at least a year and up to five years. Maloney sat quietly Friday afternoon during the video arraignment from the Ada County Jail. She was initially pulled over for speeding — 52 mph in a 35 mph zone. The officer detected a strong odor of alcohol and other indications of intoxication, an Ada County deputy prosecutor said. Maloney initially refused sobriety tests but then agreed to them, the deputy prosecutor said. She failed them and then agreed to a breath test. Breath tests measured her blood alcohol at 0.183 and then at 0.182. Attorney Matt Stoppello, who is representing Maloney, told Judge John Hawley that Maloney is employed and poses no flight risk. He said the courtroom was filled with her supporters. The judge set bond at $50,000. The terms of Maloney’s release include no driving, no possession of alcohol and alcohol monitoring. A preliminary hearing has been set for April 22. FIFTH ARREST SINCE 2009 Maloney’s legal troubles started seven years ago. She told the Statesman last year that she began abusing alcohol that year to cope with a traumatic incident from her past. Here are details from Boise police reports on her prior arrests: May 2, 2009: Maloney collided with a motorcycle while turning from Federal Way onto Bergeson Street. The motorcyclist suffered a leg injury and was thrown from the bike. He told police he had to roll out of the street to avoid being hit by another car. Maloney, working for the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office at the time, left the scene and turned herself in the next day. She pleaded guilty to misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident. Oct. 31, 2010: Police were called to the Eastside Tavern for a report of a battery. A responding officer found Maloney, who appeared intoxicated and had a wound on her head. The officer was told she was kicked out of the bar for being disruptive. She was taken to a hospital for treatment of her injuries. She told an officer that she was worried about her two young children, who were home alone. An officer was sent to check on the children, asleep in the unlocked home. She was charged with two counts of felony injury to a child but pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor injury to a child and one count of disturbing the peace. She was granted a withheld judgment, which was later revoked. Oct. 20, 2012: An officer stopped a vehicle traveling west on Overland Road after watching it drive over a curb. Maloney told the officer that she had not been drinking, but breath tests showed a blood alcohol level of 0.19. She pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI and a probation violation. May, 2, 2013: An officer found Maloney asleep in the driver’s seat of a vehicle that was partially in the outside lane of westbound Overland Road near Jade Avenue. The keys were in the ignition. Her driver’s license had been suspended for the prior DUI. Breath tests showed blood alcohol levels of 0.217 and 0.227. Maloney pleaded guilty to excessive DUI. COUNTY TUMULT Boise County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jay Rosenthal was among those in court Friday. He declined to comment after the hearing. The Boise County Prosecutor’s Office has one other attorney, Ross Pittman. The county prosecutor’s office is handling a death penalty case set to go to trial in September. Michael S. Dauber is charged with killing Joshua Reddington, 25. He’s also charged with first- degree murder in the death of Steven Kalogerakos, 42. The office is also prosecuting former county employee Rana Klingner, who is accused of stealing nearly $47,000 from the county. It’s a generally tumultuous time in Boise County. Idaho City Mayor James Obland was recalled in March, and there’s a petition drive to recall County Clerk Mary Prisco. Barbara Balding was part of the three-member Boise County Commission that appointed Maloney as prosecutor following the departure of Ian Gee, who is now in private practice in Boise. “I am so disappointed, and my heart breaks for her,” Balding said. “And she has children.” Balding said she believed Maloney when she told commissioners that she was on a path to recovery.

Judge: No deposition of accused GOP secret society members IdahoStateJournal.com: Apr. 11-AP IDAHO FALLS (AP) — An eastern Idaho judge has reversed his earlier ruling and blocked the deposition of seven members of the local Republican Party who are accused of forming a secret society to oust party leaders from their positions. Senior Judge Richard St. Clair on Thursday ruled that Bonneville County GOP Chairman Doyle Beck and Region 7 GOP Chairman Bryan Smith will not be allowed to interview local GOP members to see if they are part of the so-called “clandestine core group.” Beck and Smith hoped to question the seven about an alleged secret society called the Idaho Prosperity Project and its plans to change the balance of power in party leadership. St. Clair originally ruled in their favor, but the judge quashed subpoenas after a hearing with the seven accused society members. ”None of the targets of Smith and Beck’s legal bullying has done anything wrong,” the seven said in a statement. “None has anything to hide. All have every reason to resist this liberal use of the courts by Smith and Beck to engage in their political witch hunt.” The legal proceedings hinged on a little-used court regulation called Rule 27. Beck and Smith argued the rule exists to gather information that could be used in a potential lawsuit. The seven who were to be deposed said the rule exists to preserve testimony if a witness with important information might die or forget it. Tim Hopkins, who is representing the accused party members, said this is the first time a judge in the local district has decided on Rule 27, and it sets a precedent. Beck and Smith said they still intend to get information on the Idaho Prosperity Project. “I was set to find the truth, and I will find the truth,” Beck said.

Blood work and the law Lewiston Tribune: Apr. 9- Chelsea Embree Idaho's highest court is using a Nez Perce County vehicular manslaughter case to determine when it is legal for the state's police officers to draw blood from a drunken driving suspect. The Idaho Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases Friday in Lewiston, including vehicular manslaughter suspect Kyle N. Rios' motion to suppress the results of a blood-alcohol test on allegations it was obtained through an unlawful search and seizure. Rios, 26, of Lapwai, was arrested in December 2013 following a car accident that killed Lewiston mill worker Paul W. Stuk. According to court records, Rios' blood-alcohol concentration was 0.263 at the time of the crash - more than three times the legal limit for driving. Court records indicate Rios did not initially object to a blood-alcohol test, but he declined to sign a waiver at the hospital. He did not verbally or physically resist the blood draw. Second District Judge Jeff M. Brudie granted Rios' motion to throw out the results of the blood- alcohol test last February, a ruling that was appealed to the state high court. Deputy Attorney General Mark Olson argued Friday that Rios consented to the blood draw by virtue of Idaho's implied consent statute. The statute indicates that anyone driving Idaho roads implicitly consents to evidentiary testing if a police officer reasonably believes a motorist is driving under the influence. "Implied consent isn't some lesser version of consent," Olson said. Olson also argued that Rios' refusal to sign the waiver at the hospital was not equivalent to him refusing the test entirely. There are a number of reasons a person may refuse to sign any form, Olson said, and the reason Rios did not sign the waiver at the hospital can only be speculated. If the form had been provided by the hospital, for example, Rios may have declined to sign for billing purposes. Similarly, if the form was provided by law enforcement, Rios may have declined to sign the form because it could have indicated a confession. "Without the identity of the form, ... I think there's less evidence to rely on that refusing to sign that form, whatever it was, constituted a refusal of the test itself," Olson said. Olson said it was up to Rios to actively communicate that he wanted to revoke his consent to have his blood drawn. But Lewiston attorney Paul Thomas Clark, who represents Rios, said a suspect must voluntarily give consent and then continue to voluntarily give consent. Because of Idaho's implied consent statute, Clark argued the first hurdle had been cleared. But when Rios declined to sign the consent form for the blood draw, Clark said Rios not only stopped voluntarily consenting to having his blood drawn, but also withdrew his implied consent. Clark referenced an Idaho Supreme Court ruling in October 2014 that blood draws are not always permitted under the state's implied consent statute. "(The ruling) says, 'The driver continued to give voluntary consent,' " Clark said. "It doesn't say that the driver has to revoke consent. There's a big difference there." The second case on Friday's docket concerned a drug trafficking trial and whether statements made by a potential juror prejudiced the jury against defendant Brian N. Pratt. The case involving Pratt, 43, stems from a March 2013 jury trial that led to the conviction of the so-called "merchant of meth" on two counts of delivery of methamphetamine and one count of trafficking in the controlled substance. Pratt has argued that the court should have called for a mistrial after a potential juror said he "got in trouble" for the same "kind of" activity that Pratt was on trial for. The Idaho Court of Appeals granted Pratt a new trial last year as a result of the statement. Boise attorney Eric Fredericksen, who represented Pratt Friday, argued those statements meant the jury was able to infer both Pratt and the prospective juror were involved in drug activity, therefore prejudicing the jury against Pratt. Olson argued the statements were vague and included no opinion of Pratt's guilt or innocence that could sway a jury. The court will issue a written opinion in each of the cases at a later date.

Why should Idaho taxpayers pay twice over courtrooms? Idaho Statesman.com: Apr. 9- Tammy De Weerd and John Evans As elected leaders of Meridian, Garden City, Boise, Kuna, Star and Eagle, we feel it is our duty to inform our residents about a looming threat over those living in Meridian and Garden City. It is a serious issue and will affect the taxpayers in those cities, and eventually taxpayers in Kuna, Star and Eagle. Ada County sued Meridian and Garden City to add a courtroom in each of their cities because of an old 1994 court order. In 1996, when the cities and counties asked the citizens to support a consolidated courtroom, and they did, the order should have immediately become null and void. The new consolidated courthouse opened in 2002 on Front Street in Boise, paid for each year by all citizens of Ada County. While commissioners are blaming their irrational request on an old court order, what they really want is money. The county commissioners are now saying that Meridian and Garden City need to pay them to use the courthouse — something that is already paid for and funded by your county taxes. Currently Kuna, Star and Eagle are not being asked to supply the same facility or pay the additional taxes, but we know that request will be made soon. It became apparent in a KTVB interview when the reporter asked Ada County Commissioner Jim Tibbs whether the other cities would have to pay. His response was “at some point they will.” Meridian and Garden City have been trying to work with Ada County commissioners to find a resolution that works for everyone. Meridian offered court space to the county when the city was building a new City Hall, and the county declined. Then both Meridian and Garden City offered in 2012 to ask the Legislature to change the court fees that support the courts, and the county declined that as well. Meridian and Garden City participated in mediation with the county but there was no resolution. The city of Boise has a completely different agreement with the county for a different fee, one that was agreed upon well before the courthouse was built. It is not the same fee that Meridian and Garden City are being asked for today. Again, county commissioners just want more taxpayer money and they think this old court order is the way they can get it. In reality, the court order isn’t about money, it is about having court facilities in two additional cities. Asking Meridian and Garden City taxpayers to provide unnecessary court facilities is unjust, and a waste of taxpayer dollars, particularly since the courthouse on Front Street is not being used at maximum capacity. If the commissioners want to target how much the two cities use the courthouse, there are stats to prove that taxpayers in those communities are already more than covering their fair share. One example: The city of Meridian has a courthouse caseload of 17 percent and roughly 60 percent of those cases are non-Meridian residents. Still, Meridian residents pay 20 percent of the county tax revenues. It is our hope that Ada County commissioners will join the cities of Meridian and Garden City in an effort to resolve this issue at a hearing in the next few months, when it will be presented before 11 district judges. Let us come together as one group, all the cities, and one county. Taxpayers, whether in cities or unincorporated areas, are already paying for courts through their county taxes. If funding isn’t adequate to cover costs, this is a countywide issue and the commissioners should treat all equally. Tammy de Weerd is Meridian mayor and John Evans is Garden City mayor. Contributing authors are Dave Bieter, Boise mayor; Joe Steer, Kuna mayor; Chad Bell, Star mayor; and Stan Ridgeway, Eagle mayor.

A word with lawyer Stephen Stokes Idaho Business Review: Apr. 11- Anne Wallace Steve Stokes is an attorney advisor to the adjutant general, Idaho National Guard. He’s a former family law attorney who now runs a family law mediation and consulting business. He’s a certified child custody mediator through the Supreme Court and a volunteer with the Idaho Military Legal Alliance and the Idaho State Bar Pro Bono Commission. And he’s an adjunct faculty member at Concordia University Law School in Boise, where he teaches family law. Stokes is a Pocatello native who earned a degree in history from Idaho State University and a law degree from the University of Idaho. He stumbled into family law more or less by accident, when the practice where he worked assigned him that caseload. He spent a year in Iraq doing military law on a base in Baghdad as a Judge Advocate General, or JAG. Nowadays, Stokes is classified as a federal technician, which means he’s a civilian employee of the military and a member of the Idaho National Guard. He took some time away from his several jobs and his volunteer work recently to talk to Idaho Business Review about his work in the trenches of military law and family law. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. How did you start out? I was working in a small firm in Pocatello with two partners. I didn’t know this at the time, but one partner was a workers’ comp guru, other partner was family law guy, the family law guy eventually became magistrate judge, so their plan for me was to be the family law guy. And what led to you Baghdad? I had always thought about joining the military. I had been funneled into family law and I wasn’t sure that it was really for me, and you know how you’re taught that you go to school and get a degree, and then work? What’s next? I thought, “Am I really going to do this for the next 35 years?” I had started feeling kind of restless. When I joined the military I had to write a personal statement about why I wanted to do it. The best I could come up with is, “It’s a calling for me. I have to do it. It’s one of those things that if I had never done it, I would have regretted it my whole life.” What work did you do in Baghdad? I wanted to be a military lawyer, a Judge Advocate General, or JAG. I got my commission in 2009, went to the JAG school in Charlottesville, Va. in early 2010, and kind of put my law practice on hold for a while. We deployed right away, so I went from joining, to school, to Iraq in about 10 months. I spent a year in Baghdad doing military law. I was responsible for contract, fiscal law, administrative law, and legal assistance. Contract and fiscal law fascinating because it is about how, legally, how does the US military enter into agreements with third parties? The Iraq war was famous for hiring contractors to do things for the military such as Kellogg Brown & Root, and a whole bunch of other contractors. The U.S. military then did a lot of business with local Iraqi nationals to stimulate the economy. Local people on the base ran businesses, food establishments, retail sales, there was a local and national concrete company that made all the big blast walls we used. My job was to analyze the contracts and make sure they were lawfully entered into, to make sure both parties followed the terms of the agreement, and follow the contract to the end. And I was responsible for administrative law. When something happens in the military, we conduct an investigation to figure out what happened, to figure out whether we need to punish someone or fix the system. I was also the legal assistance officer. When a soldier got a Dear John letter and was getting divorced, they would come see me and get an idea of what to do. That’s where family law came in. So how did you end up with so many jobs? When I came back, I was serving in the National Guard and opened my own law firm with a couple of other people in August 2013. But I got a call out of the blue asking if I’d be interested in working full-time out at Gowen Field doing military law. So in spring of 2014 I was hired full time for the Idaho National Guard. I can’t stop working. I get restless, I think, and I have to fill my time. What do you do as a consultant in family law? I do client consultations. I don’t have an attorney-client relationship with that person, but I counsel them about their problems and refer them to a person who can help them. When people get divorced, someone has to file a lawsuit against the other person. We don’t have any better system than resort to a standard of litigation process. It’s terrible. Idaho has done some things to mitigate the animosity. But at the end of the day, there’s no other way to get divorced than to file a lawsuit. When they receive that, people freak out. They file a counter-claim, and then tensions are horribly inflated. How can this process be improved? In a dream world, I think that family law cases shouldn’t go through the adversarial process. It should be kind of an administrative process, like worker’s compensation where you are not part of the legal system. But could it ever get outside of court? I don’t think that would ever happen. Really, what would make it better is if attorneys took a family law class in law school and understood those dynamics. I’m not trying to promote my own class or anything. The courthouse programs that help family law litigants address their other issues are really helpful, how to put together your finances, deal with the emotional issues. And a focus on mediation is definitely helpful. Groups like WeVorce that combine all of those services in one office – an attorney, a financial planner, a social worker, a psychologist maybe – if you buy into that program, and then that team helps you address all those issues, that’s a great idea. What do you tell your students? Going into it I hadn’t really had any training on how to deal with family law clients; most law students don’t. You might take a family law class, but it’s an elective. You’re trained in law school to be a litigator, to understand how the rules work, how to make an argument, how to reduce your personal emotions in the case. When I was a practicing attorney doing family law cases, my focus was: I get it, you want to protect your legal interests, you want to maximize your recovery in the family law case and get what you’re entitled to, but you need to understand how your actions will affect your children today and as they grow up. That’s the attitude that I take to my family law class and mediation business. I’m training law students to understand this dynamic and serve the family as whole.

Otter signs measure, lets four others become law Lewiston Tribune: Apr. 9- Kathryn Kaake/AP BOISE - Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter on Friday signed a remaining piece of legislation into law, while allowing four others to become part of the state statutes without his signature. Friday was Otter's deadline to take action on bills. In total, Otter signed 370 bills in 2016 and allowed seven proposals to become law starting July 1 without his signature. The last bill he signed was the funding mechanism for the attorney general's office, pointing to mounting tensions between the two offices over recent legal decisions issued by the attorney general. Otter has only vetoed two measures this year. In 2012 and 2010, Otter declined to veto any bills sent to him by the legislative branch, while in 2014 he partially rejected a single bill with a line-item veto. With the exception of 2006, when Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne declined to veto any of the Legislature's proposed laws, the last year a governor refused to veto a single bill was in 1919. Jim Weatherby, political science professor emeritus at Boise State University, said Otter is reluctant to use the veto even when he disagrees with the legislation because the Legislature is "veto proof," meaning many of the bills are passing with such wide margins, the Legislature could reconvene and override the veto. "I think it does tell you something about the power of the Legislature and the preference of this governor to work behind the scenes," Weatherby said. This year, Otter criticized measures taken to pre-emptively restrict local municipalities from implementing a plastic bag ban and raising the minimum wage. He allowed both measures to become law without his signature, along with another measure that will allow people to carry concealed weapons without getting a permit. "He delivered a veto message, but didn't deliver a veto," Weatherby said. Last year, Otter was hit with a lawsuit after attempting to veto legislation banning lucrative gaming machines known as instant horse racing. The Idaho Supreme Court later ruled that Otter failed to veto the bill on time. In total, he vetoed four pieces of legislation following last year's 48-day session. Earlier this week, Otter vetoed a bill that would have explicitly allowed the Bible to be used in public schools, arguing the legislation was illegal and would result in costly litigation. He also vetoed a proposal that would have provided community health clinics with $5.4 million to study 78,000 Idahoans who don't qualify for medical insurance. Among the bills he signed are two contentious abortion measures, including one that will ban the donation or selling of fetal tissue in the state, even though no such practice exists in Idaho. He also approved $5 million for public defense funding, and a 7.4 percent increase in education funding. The 2016 session has been highly productive, with the Legislature passing 379 bills of the 557 measures introduced in legislative committees. The 75-day session also produced 52 resolutions and memorials.

What’s next after top Boise County prosecutor’s DUI charge? IdahoStatesman.com: Apr. 11- Katy Moeller Boise County Commission Chairman Alan Ward said Monday that no decisions have been made about the future of Prosecutor Jolene Maloney, who was charged Friday with her third DUI since 2012. Ward and his two fellow commissioners, Roger Jackson and Laura Baker, don’t yet know if they have the authority to remove Maloney — if that’s even a possibility. They’ve asked outside counsel to present all options in executive session at their regular Tuesday meeting. “Then we’ll talk about it in public session,” said Ward, who expects that to happen in the late afternoon. The commissioners meet in the Miners’ Exchange building at Main and Wall streets, across the street from the county courthouse. Maloney was appointed in 2015 to finish the term of Ian Gee, who left the office for private practice in Boise. Ward said he did not know if Maloney was back at work in the prosecutor’s office Monday. Her attorney, Matt Stoppello, did not return calls requesting comment. Dan Chadwick, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties and former division chief for the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, told the Statesman on Monday there’s nothing stopping Maloney from continuing to work while the felony DUI case makes its way through the court system. “You are innocent until proven guilty. Period,” he said. “All we have is an allegation and a charge. Nobody gets removed from office unless there is a conviction.” Chadwick said Maloney has the same standing as any elected official, so could not be fired by other county officials. “Only the public can recall you,” he said. But an elected county official who is convicted of a felony forfeits his or her position, Chadwick said. A recent example was Jefferson County Sheriff Blair Olsen, who lost his job after he was found guilty of misusing public funds. Brenda Secor, wife of acting Idaho City Mayor Tom Secor, said commissioners shouldn’t go into executive session to discuss the matter. “It shouldn’t be a secret,” she said. Ward, who lives in Garden Valley, said he’s received a lot of feedback from constituents. “I’ve had people on both sides — people in support (of Maloney) and people requesting her resignation,” he said. “The smart thing is to not react, it’s to think. We need to process it, seek advice and look at all of our options.” Brad Andrews, counsel for the Idaho State Bar, said the bar association typically lets the criminal process play out before making any decisions about disciplinary action. Sanctions by the bar range from public reprimand to disbarment. Can felons practice law in Idaho? Yes, Andrews said, but they are subject to formal charge proceedings and possibly interim suspension. Maloney, who now has a residence in Idaho City, was the only person who filed to run for Boise County prosecutor in November, according to County Clerk Mary Prisco. She’s running as a Republican. But a write-in candidate could challenge Maloney. Jay Rosenthal, chief deputy prosecutor for Boise County, championed Maloney as Gee’s replacement despite her struggles with alcohol and previous convictions. Ward said Maloney seemed to be making the most of her second chance at working in public service. He said he had heard no reports of relapse. “I was completely caught off guard,” he said of the early-morning phone call Friday about Maloney’s arrest in Garden City. He and others have concerns about what the charge against Maloney will mean for the county’s prosecution of some major cases, including those against Michael S. Dauber, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Joshua Reddington and Steven Kalogerakos. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the Reddington case, which is set to go to trial in September. Maloney was arraigned Friday. She’s been released on $50,000 bond, according to online court records. Her preliminary hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. April 22. The conditions of her pre-trial release included no possession of alcohol and no driving.

Convicted rapist claims inefficient counsel Lewiston Tribune: Apr. 12- Chelsea Embree MOSCOW - A 23-year-old Twin Falls man convicted of rape in Latah County clutched a tissue Monday, visibly upset as his attorney argued his March 2013 trial counsel was unprepared and ineffective. Jesse M. Vierstra appeared Monday in Latah County 2nd District Court for an oral arguments hearing regarding his petition for post-conviction relief. Vierstra was sentenced in June 2013 to five to 15 years in prison for the rape of a woman outside a University of Idaho fraternity house. Judge John R. Stegner, who is presiding over the petition, will issue a written ruling at a later date. The conviction stems from an incident during the university's homecoming weekend in October 2012. Vierstra, a one-time UI student, was visiting Moscow and attended a fraternity party. He and the victim were kissing on a bench outside, according to court records. The woman testified during the trial that Vierstra then attacked her when she attempted to end the interaction, carried her around the building, held her to the ground and raped her. Vierstra is seeking to have the conviction and sentence vacated, or to at least be resentenced. Ketchum attorney Andrew Parnes, who is representing Vierstra, argued Monday that Vierstra's attorneys did not properly investigate the case before it went to trial. Vierstra was represented by attorneys Charles E. Kovis and Benjamin M. Onosko at the time. "The attorneys never talked to witnesses," Parnes said. "They admitted that. They never consulted experts." Kovis and Onosko didn't apply for funds for a private investigator until February 2013, Parnes said, and the investigator did not begin work until March 6, 2013. The trial began March 18, 2013. Parnes said defense attorneys "essentially abandoned" corroboration by relying on only Vierstra's testimony during the trial. Vierstra has argued that he provided his attorneys with a list of potential witnesses, and that the investigator was still attempting to contact many of them as the case went to trial. Those witness testimonies "are needed to show that Mr. Vierstra, when he was testifying, is telling the truth," Parnes said. Latah County Deputy Prosecutor Bradley J. Rudley noted some of the witnesses were contacted and didn't want to speak with the investigator. There was plenty of evidence and testimony presented to corroborate Vierstra's version of events, Rudley said. Rudley argued Monday that Kovis and Onosko made tactical, strategic decisions in the case. "In this case, trial counsel exercised reasonable judgment in their investigations, developed a reasonable trial strategy and employed that," Rudley said. Both Parnes and Rudley noted Kovis and Onosko logged only 20 work hours on the case from October 2012 through February 2013. But Rudley noted the defense attorneys logged 136 work hours during March 2013, when the trial was taking place. Vierstra has alleged that Kovis and Onosko also failed by not obtaining a psychosexual evaluation. But the defense attorneys contacted two mental health experts, Rudley said, and were advised that Vierstra's refusal to acknowledge his guilt meant he would not be amenable to treatment. Parnes argued that Kovis "speculated" the evaluation may not be valuable, adding that the lack of the evaluation became a concern at sentencing. A prison rehabilitation program would have been appropriate if a psychosexual evaluation had been completed, Parnes said, noting that the probation department had recommended placement in such a program. "Mr. Vierstra's been in custody now three years because his trial counsel made some decision not to do it," Parnes said. "... He lost his freedom because of that."

Idaho officials look for place to put teen killer Lewiston Tribune: Apr. 12- Rebecca Boone/ AP BOISE - An Idaho teen has been sentenced to spend the next 20 years in an adult prison, forcing correction officials to look across the country to find a safe place for the 16-year-old to do his time. Eldon Samuel III was just 14 when he shot to death his drug-addicted father and then shot, stabbed and hacked to death his autistic younger brother in their northern Idaho home. Last week, 1st District Judge Benjamin Simpson sentenced him to spend the next two decades in prison, starting immediately. But federal laws prohibit minors from being held within sight or sound of adult prison inmates. Currently, the only way for Idaho prisons to meet those standards is to place the teen in solitary confinement. That's got Idaho Department of Correction officials scrambling to find a solution. "We need to keep him separate from our adult offenders, and unfortunately there are no other juveniles in our system," said Ashley Dowell, the department's deputy chief of prisons. The solution will likely be an out-of-state prison, Dowell said. Minors aren't unheard of in Idaho prisons, but haven't been a significant portion of the state's prison population for decades. Today, there is just one other minor under IDOC jurisdiction - a 17-year-old girl who is on probation. Another juvenile is serving a blended sentence and is expected to be transferred to an adult facility at age 18. Samuel has already done time in solitary. He spent more than three months in a 9-foot by 12- foot holding cell in a Kootenai County Jail when he was first charged. Experts believe extended solitary confinement amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho intervened on Samuel's behalf, asking the court to move him to juvenile detention. Eventually, a judge agreed and sent Samuel to a local detention facility until his trial was complete. The teen is returning to solitary for at least the next several days, however, as he undergoes the same receiving and diagnostic process that all state prison inmates go through. ACLU-Idaho spokesman Leo Morales said his organization is watching Samuel's case closely. "What this raises again is a serious issue with regards to our prisons in this state, an issue with how our judges sentence juveniles. We know that solitary confinement is really cruel and unusual, particularly for juveniles," Morales said. IDOC research analyst Sean Falconer said in an email that the vast majority of people who came under IDOC custody as juveniles were sentenced to either probation or a so- called rider program, where they serve a few months in prison before they are evaluated for possible early probation. Falconer said there are currently 218 adults who came under IDOC jurisdiction as juveniles, including 86 inmates currently serving prison terms. Juveniles are also a rarity in adult prisons nationwide. The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that there are roughly 1,200 youths held in adult state prison facilities, according to a 2013 report. That's less than a tenth of a percent of all inmates. And that number has been dropped dramatically over the past several years: Nearly 4,000 juveniles were held in state prisons in 2000. Florida, New York, Georgia, Connecticut and Michigan currently have the highest numbers, according to the BJS report. In Idaho, juveniles charged with certain felonies are automatically tried as adults. But those that are sentenced are often given blended sentences, serving time in a juvenile detention center until they become of age and can be transferred to an adult prison. During Samuel's sentencing hearing, Kootenai County Public Defender John Adams urged the judge to allow the teen to stay in juvenile detention for now, moving him to a prison when he turns 19 or 21. Adams cited Samuel's traumatized upbringing: His father was abusive, both children were neglected and Samuel was in charge of caring for his autistic brother. His father also believed that a zombie apocalypse was imminent, and tried to train Samuel to fight off the monsters in case of a doomsday event, according to court testimony. However, the judge noted the seriousness of the crime. Samuel's younger brother tried to hide under a bed, but Samuel found him and shot, stabbed and hacked the child with a machete more than 100 times. The judge said he wasn't comfortable having the teen housed with other juvenile offenders, opting instead to house him in adult prison for the entirety of his sentence.

Alleged attempted abductor’s possible penalties pile up Coeur d’Alene Press: Apr. 12- Jeff Selle COEUR d’ALENE — The possible penalties were increased Monday for Jason A. Edwards, 44, who allegedly tried to kidnap a co- worker at The Coeur d’Alene Press office last year. The Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office has dropped a burglary charge against Edwards, but added weapons and sex assault enhancements to his charges for allegedly using a deadly weapon during the attack, and for being convicted of having a prior sexual offense. The enhancements could add an additional 30 years to Edwards’ sentence if he is convicted. Edwards is charged with battery with intent to commit a felony, attempted first-degree kidnapping and aggravated assault — all felony charges stemming from the Nov. 1 alleged incident. He also is charged with DUI, a misdemeanor. Prosecutor Barry McHugh said the deadly weapon enhancement gives the judge discretion to add up to 15 years to the maximum sentence if Edwards is convicted. Also if convicted, Edwards will get a mandatory minimum of 15 years added to his sentence for being convicted of a prior sexual offense. Public Defender Mayli Walsh told Judge Lansing Haynes her client has a plea offer on the table, and asked for a plea hearing to be scheduled as soon as possible. Haynes set the date for April 18 at 8:30 a.m. Walsh said Edwards has until Friday to accept or deny the plea agreement. “We need a little more time for Mr. Edwards to meet with counsel,” she said. If Edwards doesn’t accept the plea, Haynes has scheduled a jury trial for May 3. Prosecutors expect the trial to last five days. Edwards declined a plea deal offered by prosecutors earlier this year, and he remains in custody at the Kootenai County jail. Police said Edwards allegedly coaxed a 27-year-old co-worker outside early in the morning of Nov. 1. According to police reports, he allegedly threatened her with a knife and attempted to take her to a van he had parked a couple hundred yards away. Police said she broke free and escaped back into The Press building, where she called police.

Boise County prosecutor takes leave; sheriff resigns Idaho Statesman.com: Apr. 12- Katy Moeller Boise County commissioners aren’t saying publicly whether they want to see Prosecutor Jolene Maloney out of office following a recent DUI arrest, her third since 2012. But they did say this Tuesday: They have no legal authority to remove Maloney from office. Commissioners conferred with staff, outside counsel and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, Chairman Alan Ward said. They discussed the matter in executive sessions during their regular Tuesday meeting. Dan Chadwick, executive director for the Association of Idaho Counties, told the Statesman Monday that an appointed prosecutor has the same standing as any elected official. Maloney was appointed last April after Ian Gee left to pursue private practice in Boise. Maloney requested a leave of absence, and commissioners approved it, Ward said. She appointed Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jay Rosenthal to perform her duties while she is gone — up to 90 days. “Ms. Maloney has made the appropriate arrangements so that the Boise County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office can continue its work without further distraction,” Ward said, reading from a statement. He declined to discuss whether commissioners had asked Maloney to resign. SHERIFF TAKING NEW JOB Also during Tuesday’s meeting, Sheriff Ben Roeber announced that he’s leaving the Sheriff’s Office at the end of the month to take a state job. Roeber, who’s been sheriff since 2007, started with the Sheriff’s Office with a part-time job while he was still in high school. A 1998 graduate of Idaho City High School who turns 36 on Friday, Roeber also will celebrate 18 years at the Sheriff’s Office that day. The anniversary will be bittersweet, he said. He isn’t talking publicly about his new position yet, other than to say it’s in the emergency services and management realm. Some in the county may rue the timing of Roeber’s departure, with so many other things going on, including the controversy surrounding the prosecutor’s recent DUI arrest. But the sheriff said that couldn’t be helped. “I wasn’t offered the position until late last week,” he said. “Some things you can’t control.” It’s an opportunity that was too good to pass up, he said. He’s looking forward to better hours, more time with his family and a lot less stress. Roeber said he worked hard while sheriff to keep his office within budget and improve relations with commissioners. He’s proud of his role in efforts to get school resource officers in schools, doing community outreach and adding a K9 officer. “I feel like I can hold my head up high,” Roeber said. “I served the citizens of Boise County to the best of my ability.” He and his wife have two young children. They plan to live in Idaho City and carpool to their jobs in Boise. “We love it up here,” he said. “We’ll be able to commute together. We’ll get to spend an extra two hours together that we haven’t gotten.”

U.S. attorney for Idaho to talk discrimination, civil rights with Muslim ISU students Idaho State Journal: Apr. 13- Journal Staff POCATELLO — On the heels of a New York Times article chronicling Pocatello’s culture clash with Muslim students at Idaho State University, the U.S. attorney for Idaho will meet with some of those students this week. The Justice Department issued a press release Tuesday afternoon stating the purpose of the meeting “is to protect civil rights and prevent hate crimes.” Prior to Thursday’s meeting with ISU’s “Saudi, Muslim and international students,” U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. Thursday to answer questions from the media outside the federal courthouse on Sherman Street in Pocatello, the press release stated. It’s unclear whether the actual meeting with the ISU students will be open to the media. The Justice Department press release stated: “The U.S. attorney’s meeting with these ISU students is one of 14 U.S. attorney-sponsored events throughout the United States between April 13- 20 to address discrimination, violence and harassment targeting people based on what they look like, or what country they come from.” The New York Times article about ISU’s Muslim students, headlined “The Mideast came to Idaho State — it wasn’t the best fit,” was printed last month on the newspaper’s front page. The Journal contacted Olson’s office for comment on whether the article factored into her decision to speak to ISU’s Muslim students, but as of late Tuesday afternoon that call had not been returned. ISU released the following statement about Olson’s meeting with the Muslim students: “Idaho State University takes a strong stance against bigotry and hate in any form. We work hard to foster a friendly, warm and safe environment, and ISU is focused on creating inclusive opportunities for the entire campus community. We stand with those who have been affected by intolerance, and we also strongly encourage our entire community to promote mutual respect and acceptance.”

Idaho Attorney General Wasden should sign waiver, allow Idaho nuclear research Idaho Statesman.com: Apr. 12- Jeff Thompson/ Guest Opinion Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter supports issuing a waiver that would allow the U.S. Department of Energy to ship a small quantity of commercial nuclear fuel to Idaho National Laboratory for vital research. So does Idaho’s congressional delegation: Reps. Mike Simpson, and Raul Labrador; Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden says he supports the lab doing this vital national security and clean energy work, he also says he wants the INL to retain its coveted status as the nation’s lead nuclear research lab. However, the attorney general continues to block the shipment and put INL, the state economy and our national security at risk. That’s the reason I authored House Concurrent Resolution 60, which passed overwhelmingly by the Idaho House of Representatives and Senate. HCR 60 expressed support for INL’s clean energy and national security mission, while urging Wasden to join Otter in signing the waiver. Read the resolution. It wasn’t critical of Wasden in any way. But, speaking to Idaho Public Television recently, the attorney general characterized HCR 60 as a “political ambush” and a “greased bill.” First, as policymakers, it is entirely appropriate for the Legislature to offer the attorney general guidance on an issue vital to the state economy and national security. Second, HCR 60 was drafted and voted on late in the session because that’s when we learned Wasden had been unable to reach an agreement with the Department of Energy, and a second shipment of commercial fuel had been delayed and could be lost. Third, Wasden alone is blocking the shipment, which would arrive in the form of a solid, weigh roughly 100 pounds, pose absolutely no threat to the aquifer and be worth up to $10 million annually to the state. HCR 60 passed the House on a 53-16 vote and the Senate on a voice vote. Legislators from every region in Idaho and of all political persuasions expressed support for INL’s clean energy and national security mission. These lawmakers understand the remarkable cleanup progress at the site that resulted from the 1995 Settlement Agreement. DOE has done an admirable job hitting cleanup milestones and shipping waste out. These lawmakers get that the DOE has spent millions of dollars and is working diligently to solidify the last 900,000 gallons of liquid waste, and that blocking a research project critical to our national security doesn’t accomplish that task one day sooner. Lawmakers, from southeast Idaho, the Magic Valley, the Treasure Valley and north Idaho, recognize the INL’s importance to the Idaho economy. The lab is Idaho’s 5th largest private employer. It spent $130 million with Idaho businesses last year and generated $58 million in state and local taxes — money that helped fund schools, pave roads and hire police and firefighters. Wasden wasn’t elected to enact policy. That’s the job of the Legislature and governor. Yet, Wasden has effectively taken on the role of policymaker by refusing to allow the INL to fulfill its mission as the nation’s lead nuclear research facility. Five years ago, Wasden granted the same kind of waiver he is blocking today. As we did in HCR 60, I urge him to do the right thing, and soon, before any additional damage is done, to the great State of Idaho. Jeff Thompson is a Republican member of the Idaho House of Representatives representing District 30. He lives in Idaho Falls.

Moffatt Thomas will move to One Capital Center Idaho Business Review.com: Apr. 12- Teya Vitu The Moffatt Thomas law firm will move across downtown Boise from the U.S. Bank Plaza to One Capital Center into a portion of the space J.R. Simplot Co. will be leaving by the end of the year. The tower-to-tower move in the first quarter of 2017, or earlier, will be a downsizing for Moffatt Thomas, which will leave 28,000 square feet on a portion of two floors in the U.S Bank tower for 18,000 square feet occupying the entire 13thfloor of One Cap at 999 Main St. The long-term lease also provides Moffatt Thomas with an option to expand onto the 12th and 14th floors, said Christine Nicholas, president of the Boise-based law firm that also has offices in Pocatello and Idaho Falls. “(One Cap) has quite a bit more efficient floor space,” Nicholas said. “We can fit all of our people on one floor.” The Moffatt Thomas lease at U.S. Bank expires at the end of the year after a 20-year tenure. The law firm has 54 employees in the Boise office. Moffatt Thomas is the first puzzle piece in place as the Oppenheimer Development Corp. seeks to fill the 106,600 square feet on nine of the 14 floors that Simplot occupies in One Cap, where Simplot has been based since Oppenheimer built the 240,000-square-foot tower in 1975. “We are pleasantly surprised and delighted to have such an early commitment,” said Jeremy Malone, vice president at Oppenheimer Development. “(Filling One Cap) will go much quicker than we anticipated. The market right now is fairly good with a low vacancy rate downtown.” Simplot occupies floors 1, 2, 3, 10, 12, 13, 14 and portions of floors 4 and 11. CenturyLink, One Cap’s largest tenant, occupies 120,000 square feet, Oppenheimer said. Scott Feighner and Scott Raeber from Colliers International represented Oppenheimer Development Corp. in the leasing and Bill Beck from Tenant Realty Advisors represented Moffatt Thomas.

Judge denies request to delay sentencing killer Lewiston Tribune: Apr. 14- Chelsea Embree MOSCOW - A Moscow man who entered an Alford plea to killing three people and injuring a fourth will keep his May sentencing date. John Lee, 30, will be sentenced May 24 on three charges of first- degree murder and one charge of felony aggravated assault. Latah County 2nd District Judge John R. Stegner signed an order Wednesday denying a motion by the defense counsel to delay sentencing by one to two days. Lee appeared briefly Tuesday in Latah County 2nd District Court for a hearing regarding the motion filed earlier this month by his attorney, Charles E. Kovis. Expert witnesses will not be available May 24, according to court documents. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson objected to the date change, citing a scheduling conflict for one of the victims' family members. Kovis said he will explore the possibility of having the experts testify via video or telephone conference. The charges against Lee stem from a shooting spree Jan. 10, 2015, that resulted in the deaths of his adoptive mother, Terri L. Grzebielski, 61; his landlord, David M. Trail, 76; and Moscow Arby's manager Belinda G. Neibuhr, 47. Seattle resident Michael M.M. Chin, 40, was also injured in the incident. Lee told the court last month that he went to Trail's Northwestern Mutual office, located in Lee's apartment building, and shot Trail and Chin. He then drove to the Moscow Arby's, where he shot Neibuhr. His final stop was at his parents' house on Veatch Street, where Lee said he shot Grzebielski. Lee then fled in his car and led law enforcement on a high-speed chase that ended outside Steptoe. Lee claimed he was "very paranoid" and experienced a panic attack at the time of the shooting. Lee entered Alford pleas last month as part of a plea agreement that will spare him the death penalty. By entering the pleas, Lee does not admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence to convict him on each count. Thompson has said that he intends to seek concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole. The minimum sentence for each charge against Lee is 10 years in prison.

Twin Falls Man Who Stalked Kimberly Woman, Stole Photos and Underwear Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison MagicValley.com: Apr. 13- Alex Riggins TWIN FALLS • A childhood of ritualized sexual abuse doesn’t excuse the terror a 25-year-old man inflicted on a Kimberly woman by stalking her, breaking into her home and stealing her underwear and family photos, a Twin Fall judge decided. Although Edgar Ivan Flores Aguilar had “one of the most substantial” histories of abuse District Judge Richard Bevan has ever seen, he could spend up to five years in prison for the crimes. The Twin Falls man pleaded guilty Feb. 29 to a felony count of first-degree stalking and admitted to breaking in to his victim’s house multiple times to steal the woman’s underwear and pictures of her family. Bevan sentenced Aguilar on Monday to five years in prison with eligibility for parole after 2 ½ years. “I choose that because I feel that it is an appropriate amount of time for you to get both the co-occurring mental health and substance abuse treatment that you need as well as the psychosexual treatment that can be made available to you,” Bevan told Aguilar. The judge handed down the sentence after taking a 15-minute recess to review the case. He called it a very difficult decision, citing Aguilar’s “horrific childhood” and his “unique and sordid past that wasn’t of (his) making.” Aguilar’s defense attorney Samuel Beus laid out some of the details of that childhood in arguing that his client should be sentenced to a retained-jurisdiction rider program, a sentence that would have kept him out of prison. “He wasn’t just victimized a few times,” Beus told the court. “He was ritually abused … from age 3 to 18.” Beus said Aguilar was the victim of his stepfather, and that the abuse was not an excuse for stalking his victim but rather an explanation for his mindset and the need for treatment. “He started adulthood with a view of sexuality that was skewed,” Beus said. “He was immersed in it from when he was 3 to when he was an adult.” The judge agreed that Aguilar needs treatment but also pointed out that a presentence investigation identified Aguilar as a high to very high risk to reoffend. “Your history and background is one of the most substantial I think I’ve ever contemplated in terms of what you went through as a child,” Bevan told Aguilar. “But I’m not sure those grounds … excuse or justify what you did.” Aguilar’s behavior violated his victim’s “personal sense of privacy, protection and security in a greater measure than probably most folks can be violated in their lives,” Bevan said, calling the emotional harm he did to her “significant.” The judge said he was trying to accomplish three things with his sentence: acknowledge that Aguilar is “amenable to treatment” if he is mentally stable and inside a confined setting; consider the feelings of what the victim went through and do justice for her; and to give Aguilar “an avenue towards future supervision.” The judge assured Aguilar he had given plenty of thought to his past abuse but quoted former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt when he said, “Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.” The minimum 2 ½ year portion of the sentence was six months shorter than what Deputy Prosecutor Stan Holloway recommended in asking for a three to five year sentence. Aguilar has 145 days of credit for the time he’s spent in Twin Falls County Jail. “I just want to apologize first to my victim, for scaring her and being terrified,” Aguilar said in a low voice when given a chance to speak Monday. “I just want to get better … just go to treatment, better myself and just deal with the issues that I’ve been going through my whole life. I’m sorry for my actions and everything I did.” According to a plea agreement, Aguilar admitted to “breaking in to or attempting to break in to (the victim’s) house multiple times, unscrewing porch lights, stealing pictures and underwear, and during that course of conduct (possessing) a deadly weapon or instrument.” Aguilar, who attended the same church as the victim, told police he was drunk and not in his right mind when he broke into the woman’s house or tried to break in on at least three occasions, court documents said. He told police he takes medication for schizophrenia and depression, and voices in his head told him to break into the woman’s house and steal. The deputy prosecutor said Aguilar went to his victim’s house “multiple times over the course of a couple of months” despite the victim’s father shooting a warning shot over his head on one occasion. When the woman bought a security system and camera, surveillance video showed Aguilar attempting to enter her home with a 3 ½ inch butterfly knife, Holloway said. Despite Beus’ fear that Aguilar will “be forgotten and left to rot for five years” in prison, Bevan said he expects the Idaho Department of Correction to provide therapy and programming. “My expectation would be that you would be given that treatment such that you could be released and be much more safe to others than you are at the present time.”

Meridian man who was prosecuted for Facebook post sues police Idaho Statesman.com: Apr. 13- Katy Moeller A Meridian man who was charged with felony witness intimidation last year after he vented on Facebook about an arrest filed a federal lawsuit against the police officers involved in investigating the social media post. Matthew Townsend’s attorney, Aaron Tribble, filed the lawsuit Tuesday. It alleges that Townsend has been deprived of his First Amendment rights, in part because he’s now afraid of being arrested for expressing opinions on social media. This is the March 18, 2015, Facebook post that led to a felony witness intimidation charge against Matthew Townsend. It does not include the “tags” of media, police and others he included at the bottom of the post. “Mr. Townsend believes that his right to free speech has been suppressed and/or chilled,” the suit says. Townsend is a gun rights advocate and participates in the Cop Watch movement, recording police stops in an attempt to ensure transparency and accountability. The defendants named in the lawsuit are Meridian Police Deputy Chief Tracy Basterrechea and Officer Shannon Taylor. At the time, Basterrechea managed the department’s Facebook account and he asked Taylor to investigate. The suit requests compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by a jury, as well as attorney fees. In a March 18, 2015, Facebook post, Townsend expressed frustration at being arrested and charged with misdemeanor resisting and obstructing in January, after he walked away from an officer who indicated he had broken the law when crossing the street. In the Facebook post, he “tagged” the Meridian police department and family members of the officer who arrested him. Facebook tagging is a way to identify others and notify them that they’ve been mentioned. The next night, police arrested Townsend at gunpoint at his apartment, the suit says. He was charged with felony witness intimidation, a crime that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine. After a mistrial in January, prosecutors dismissed the felony intimidation charge as part of a plea deal. Townsend pleaded guilty in February to the misdemeanor resisting and obstructing charge as part of the deal. Townsend couldn’t sue prosecutors because they have immunity from civil rights suits. But he did have Tribble file a complaint with the Idaho State Bar, asking that the city and county prosecutors involved in “a year of frivolous persecution” against him be sanctioned or disciplined. The prosecutors named in the complaint are: Abagail Germaine, Jan Bennetts, Kari Higbee, Roger Bourne, Tanner Stellmon and James Vogt. Tribble said felony witness intimidation couldn’t be proved because there wasn’t any evidence that Townsend intended to alter or affect the testimony of the officer who arrested him.

Trial postponed for former LCSC athlete accused of rape Lewiston Tribune: Apr. 14- Ralph Bartholdt The rape trial for a former Lewis-Clark State College basketball player scheduled this month has been pushed back to May. The trial date for Erick A. Diouf, which was scheduled to begin Monday, was moved to May 23 after prosecutors told a 2nd District Judge Wednesday that they are still waiting for the results of DNA tests that they plan to enter as evidence. Judge Jeff M. Brudie kept the date within a window outlined by the college's calendar, he said, because witnesses in the case are college students who may be unavailable after school lets out for summer break. An earlier date would infringe on final exams, he said. "That gets us past the conclusion of college, where a number of witnesses are in this case," Brudie said. The trial date, however, is tentative, because having DNA tests completed at the state crime lab used by prosecutors has taken as long as a year in other cases. Diouf, 24, a former Warrior basketball standout who did not play last season after being charged, has pleaded innocent to one count of rape. He is accused of having sex with a 20-year-old woman, also a student, against her will last summer in his bedroom during a party, according to court records. The woman told the court at a preliminary hearing that she and her friends had been drinking before they visited a small gathering at Diouf's residence, where the alleged rape occurred. Diouf was released from the Nez Perce County Jail in September after posting $100,000 bond.

Nonprofit law firm to meet legal needs of ‘regular’ Idahoans Coeur d’Alene Press: Apr. 14- Jeff Selle COEUR d’ALENE — As far as Virginia Robinson knows, her new full-service nonprofit law firm may be the first of its kind in the nation. Attorneys Northwest, Inc., has officially hung its shingle at 1910 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200. Robinson opened the nonprofit law firm to meet the legal needs of “regular” North Idahoans who are denied access to justice simply because they cannot afford traditional legal fees. “We offer legal services at significantly reduced rates so that even modest means earners, which is most of Idaho, have access to quality legal counsel,” Robison said. “There are tens of thousands of Idahoans who have to go it alone in court or navigate a legal challenge without representation, at the mercy of a more affluent adversary.” According to Robinson, a University of Idaho study from 2013, as reported by the Idaho State Bar, concludes that more than 775,000 Idahoans who face civil legal difficulties do not have the resources to seek the help of an attorney, and in 2012, 58 percent of civil cases, or more than 89,000, had a self-represented party to the case. “Attorneys Northwest charges reduced fees based on tier levels of income up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level,” Robinson said. “As our volume of clients grows, I will implement an actual sliding scale fee schedule with the lowest fees going even lower than we have currently, which is my goal.” Robinson, who got her law degree with a special emphasis on public interest law from Gonzaga University, said she is bankrolling the firm but needs to increase the caseload to make the firm viable. “Unless we grow, we can’t keep the rates down,” she said. “It will take increased volume to make this work.” Robinson said this law firm concept has always been a dream of hers and she is going to do everything she can to make it work. “I want to level the playing field. Everyone should have access to the legal system,” she said. “These are hard working people living on minimal incomes. Some of these people are supporting families at $15 per hour.” She said her specialty and passion is in business law. She said she once helped a small business successfully navigate a bogus lawsuit that was filed against it in small claims court. “They were getting sued for $4,000, which isn’t a lot of money. But to them, it would have destroyed their business,” she said, adding that is when she realized that is the type of law she wants to do. “I am offended that regular people don’t have access to quality legal representation.” She said she plans to market to the startup business community to help small businesses get off the ground and become employers. She has an arrangement with a Spokane law firm that can do all her trademark and copyright work for a significantly reduced rate. “Startups are also eligible for our tier- one rates,” she said, explaining that those who do a lot of online sales need to make sure they are legally trademarking their names. “If someone takes your trademark name they could ruin your business.” Robinson has hired Pamela B. Massey and Brandie J. Rouse, who are like-minded attorneys. “The attorneys who come here are doing it to make a difference,” Robinson said, adding they are still paid well. She said she is also talking with other attorneys, and plans to hire more in the future. Robinson said the challenge is finding experienced attorneys who want to be part of it. “It’s hard because most attorneys have student loans,” she said, adding she will also be hiring some less-experienced attorneys and law students as the practice grows. She is also asking practicing attorneys to refer clients that can’t afford their rates to her. Robinson said her retainer fees are much smaller than most firms and she allows her clients to make payments. The firm specializes in a wide array of civil legal services from full litigation to advice regarding self-help small claims matters. “It strikes me as morally wrong that if you are charged with a crime that could land you in jail and you cannot afford counsel, you are appointed counsel free of charge,” Robinson said. “However, if you are faced with losing your children in a domestic conflict or your means of making a living in a business lawsuit, or you want to adopt a foster child or get a guardianship in place for grandma, you often have no affordable help available.” “Frankly, I’d rather go to jail than lose my kids or my life’s work,” she said, adding it is her goal to change that dynamic. Between the three attorneys and support staff the firm has a wide range of experience in family law issues, elder law issues, wills, juvenile matters, business law for startup micro-enterprises, child custody/support, adoptions, help for other nonprofits, and DUI. Driving Under the Influence is the only criminal law the firm plans to practice, Robinson said, adding DUIs can be devastating to moderate income families and she wants to help with that. She is talking with Heritage Health for referrals from patients who may be physically manifesting stress-related symptoms due to legal problems they are facing. “We are getting referrals from Heritage, and I plan to talk with Kootenai Health as well,” she said. "We also offer mediation services directly to the public, when appropriate, so folks can attempt to resolve issues economically without engaging an attorney at all." “I do not plan on applying for federal or state grants to fund the company, so we will not compete for those limited funds with our local legal aid groups, rather, our revenue is from fees charged for services, and donations,” Robinson explained. “We are not a free service — although we do provide a free initial telephone consultation.” Robinson said she has discussed the concept with people at the city and county levels, and it has been well received. “I hope the community supports our efforts,” she said. “If the community wants to make this happen, we can do this.”

U.S. Attorney Olson visits Pocatello amid discrimination allegations at ISU Idaho State Journal: Apr. 14- Cydney McFarland POCATELLO — A day after Idaho State University learned that its Saudi and Kuwaiti students might be leaving because of discrimination, U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson spoke to local media and community members at a press conference Thursday afternoon regarding Islam. Olson was at the federal courthouse and later met with ISU’s Middle Eastern students to talk about discrimination, hate speech and civil rights — including religious freedom. “We are here to stand up against backlash against the Muslim and Middle Eastern community,” said Olson. Her visit to Pocatello is part of an effort by U.S. attorneys across the country to counter anti-Muslim sentiments in our country stemming from terrorist attacks both in the U.S. and abroad. Olson will be returning to Pocatello in May for a community trust meeting to make sure there is trust and open communication between local law enforcement and community members. Olson said it has been well documented by the FBI that since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, hate crimes against American Muslim, Sikh and Arab communities have been on the rise. These types of crimes also tend to spike after terrorists attacks such as the incidents earlier this year in {span}Brussels and {/span}San Bernardino, California. Olson added that hate crimes often go unreported, and she urged everyone in the Pocatello community — especially those who feel they have been a victim of a hate crime — to report such incidents to the police. The FBI is responsible for investigating hate crimes, and FBI agents are usually alerted of those crimes by local law enforcement. Olson said hate crimes hurt the community, but reporting them and dealing with them will in the end have a positive impact. “I think it’s more important to be known as a community that deals with hate crimes,” said Olson. In Pocatello, reports of discrimination and harassment directed at ISU’s Middle Eastern students have caused the governments of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to threaten to remove their students from the university. This would be a significant loss to both the city and university financially, but the local reports of discrimination — particularly those reported last month by the New York Times — are also hurting the reputation of ISU, Pocatello and Southeast Idaho. The New York Times and other national media outlets contacted ISU on Thursday after reports surfaced Wednesday that students from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were likely going to be pulled out of ISU by their respective governments because of discrimination and harassment incidents, such as last week’s distribution of anti-Muslim DVDs throughout the campus. As of Thursday night, the New York Times, Reuters and multiple other national and international news sources had posted stories about the possible departure of the Saudi and Kuwaiti students from the university. Dr. Fahim Rahim, who is Muslim and moved to the U.S. from Pakistan, has called Pocatello his home for the past decade. Rahim spoke at Olson’s press conference and said it is up to the community to take back the “narrative” that is defining the reputation of Pocatello both nationally and internationally as a result of last month’s New York Times story about the culture clash between Pocatellans and ISU’s Middle Eastern students. To do that, Rahim — along with local law enforcement, city and university officials, representatives from the FBI and Olson — will be holding an event at the Pocatello mosque to show support for local Muslims at 3 p.m. Friday. There will also be a press conference at noon Monday outside ISU’s Student Union where ISU administrators, city officials and leaders in the local Muslim community will be expressing similar sentiments. “The best way to combat hate speech is with healthy speech,” said Olson. “I would say keep doing what you’re doing.”

Boise County prosecutor’s hearing on latest DUI charge delayed for rehab Idaho Statesman.com: Apr. 14- Katy Moeller Boise County Prosecutor Jolene Maloney was scheduled to be in court next week for a preliminary hearing on a felony DUI charge, but it was rescheduled to June at her request so that she can go to rehab, according to the special prosecutor handling the case. Maloney, 40, was charged April 8 after a traffic stop in Garden City. She has a pair of misdemeanor DUI convictions, in 2012 and 2013, which makes the third charge an automatic felony under state law because it occurred within 10 years of the first. Dan Norris, the district attorney in Malheur County, Ore., has agreed to serve as special prosecutor on the case. Maloney previously worked for the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, so it’s not a surprise that another office would be asked to handle the case. Maloney was released from the Ada County Jail on $50,000 bond. She is on a leave of absence from her job in Boise County and has appointed Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jay Rosenthal to perform her duties while she’s gone. Her leave of absence is paid, and she can be gone for up to 90 days without any impact on her job status, Boise County Commission Chairman Alan Ward said. Maloney’s salary in her dual role as prosecutor and county human resources director is $91,408, according to county records. It was $80,408 before she took on the additional HR responsibilities earlier this year. The amended fiscal 2016 budget for the prosecutor’s office is $412,863, Clerk Mary Prisco said. The county’s total budget is about $9.5 million. Maloney, who was appointed to the post one year ago to replace Ian Gee, was the only person to file to run for Boise County prosecutor this year. She’s running as a Republican. Other county residents may still join the prosecutor’s race as write-ins; the filing deadline is April 19. Maloney’s preliminary hearing is now scheduled for 8:30 a.m. June 3 before Judge Michael Oths at the Ada County Courthouse. Boise County’s commissioners met on Tuesday to discuss their options. They said legal counsel from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office and others was that they have no authority to remove an appointed prosecutor from office. She has the same rights as any elected official. An elected official who is convicted of a felony faces immediate forfeiture of his or her job, according to Dan Chadwick, executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties. The penalties for conviction of third DUI within 10 years: up to five years in prison (mandatory 30 days in jail), fines up to $5,000, license suspension up to five years (mandatory one-year suspension after release with no driving privileges) and mandatory ignition interlock device.

Judge Declares Mistrial on First Day of Hailey Man's Murder Trial MagicValley.com: Apr. 15- Alex Riggins HAILEY • The trial for a Hailey man accused of second-degree murder ended in a mistrial an hour after the first witness took the stand when she accused the defendant of committing another crime. District Judge Jonathan Brody said the accusation was impermissible evidence, created prejudice against the defendant and was “an error or legal defect … that deprives the defendant of a fair trial.” Keith Eric Blankenship, 51, must now await a new trial back at the Blaine County Jail, where he’s been held since May 2014 when he confessed to killing 47-year-old Steven Romanchuk. He’s charged with second-degree murder and felony destruction of evidence. Blankenship, who told investigators he killed Romanchuk in self-defense, faces up to life in prison if convicted on the murder charge. His attorney said he went into shock and buried the body. After two days of jury selection, the trial began Thursday morning with opening statements from Blaine County Deputy Prosecutor Matt Fredback and Blaine County Public Defender Keith Roark. Both men told the jury Blankenship shot and killed Romanchuk inside his home on Deer Creek Road in Hailey. But while prosecutors say Blankenship murdered his neighbor over a $100 marijuana debt Romanchuk was hounding him about, the defense argued Romanchuk attacked and shot at Blankenship, who slapped the gun out of his assailant’s hand and used the pistol to shoot Romanchuk in self- defense. Roark said his client went into shock after killing Romanchuk and he made a series of bad decisions – like throwing the gun away and lying to police – before he finally confessed to the slaying four months later. Romanchuk’s body was found buried under a pile of leaves in Blankenship’s backyard. After the opening statements and a recess for lunch, prosecutors called Romanchuk’s wife, Lauraine Phillips, to testify. She told the court she last heard from her husband around noon on Jan. 15, 2014. She reported him missing that night and told police to question Blankenship, a neighbor she believed owed money to her husband. Sheriff’s deputies talked to Blankenship but he told them he didn’t know Romanchuk. Feeling that sheriff’s deputies weren’t doing enough to find her missing husband, Phillips confronted Blankenship in the days after her husband’s disappearance, testifying he was red in the face, angry and shaking when she went to his home. The prosecutor asked Phillips if she saw Blankenship after that confrontation. “Yeah,” she said. “Just around the neighborhood?” Fredback asked, to which Phillips gave the response that ultimately ended the trial. “I actually watched a car pull away from a house of a neighbor and watched him try to break into it.” Roark barked out his objection to the answer and asked to approach the bench. He gestured vigorously with his arms spread wide and could clearly be heard throughout the court saying in a hissing whisper to the judge, “this is outrageous!” The judge sustained the objection and struck Phillips’ accusation from the record, but when prosecutors finished their questioning and it was Roark’s turn for cross-examination, the defense attorney asked that the jury be excluded and motioned for a mistrial. “In 40 years of practicing law I’ve never seen a more egregious violation of a man’s right to due process,” Roark told the judge. “How can I un-ring that bell?” “Are you moving for a mistrial?” Brody asked. “Indeed I am,” Roark said. Prosecutors confirmed they’d never before heard Phillips accuse Blankenship of breaking into a house and called it an accusation that “came out of left field.” Over the next two hours, the judge twice left the courtroom to weigh the decision of whether to grant the mistrial, calling it an “extremely important decision,” and echoing Roark in saying that “the bell has been rung” for jurors. The problem with Phillips’ accusation, the judge explained, is that it almost certainly would be considered impermissible evidence if the judge had weighed that decision before the trial. The jurors never should have heard the accusation that, according to Roark, gave the impression of a man who not only might have committed a criminal act but also had a “criminal character.” Roark said the accusation should have been handled before the trial and would have been declared impermissible and barred from testimony. The judge agreed and said if he didn’t declare a mistrial, the defense would be forced to shift its strategy and it would deprive the defendant of a fair trial. The judge also noted that if he denied the motion for a mistrial, an appellate court by law would automatically take up any conviction. “It was a definite and deliberate smear against the character of my client,” Roark told the judge. “It’s indelibly written in the jurors’ brains that this man lurks, waiting to commit crimes.” Just halfway through questioning of the first of 37 witnesses was the “perfect time” to declare a mistrial “if there could be a perfect time,” Roark argued. “My client only gets one shot at this,” Roark said. “And he could spend the rest of his life in prison.” Brody explained his decision to the jurors and those watching the trial. “I had to consider whether this deprived the defendant of a fair trial,” Brody said. “I believe it has.” Brody said he did not enjoy making the decision or “relish it by any means.” No new hearing dates were set Thursday. The court must choose a new jury — a process that took two days this week — and each side must now weigh whether to change strategy now that the other side has heard their opening statements. Fredback painted Blankenship as a man who murdered in cold blood, lied to police three times and to his victim’s widow on several occasions, and confessed to the killing only when he believed he would soon be caught because a corpse was rotting in a shallow grave five steps from his backdoor. Roark described Blankenship as a man who was shocked when, several days after Romanchuk was reported missing, he answered a knock on his door to find Romanchuk in a rage, holding a handgun and accusing Blankenship of sleeping with his wife. Roark said Romanchuk barged in and fired one shot, sparking a struggle for the gun that ended with Blankenship grabbing it, killing Romanchuk in self-defense and then destroying evidence while in shock.

NW senators weigh in on the politics of justice Lewiston Tribune: Apr. 15- William Spence WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats say the American people are "on our side" in demanding a confirmation hearing for Judge Merrick Garland, but Idaho's two senators don't believe the Supreme Court nominee shares Idaho values. Garland, who has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for almost 20 years, is President Barack Obama's choice to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. Senate Republican leaders have refused to hold a confirmation hearing for him, saying the nomination should be left to whoever wins the presidential election in November. In a news conference Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate began holding public confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees 100 years ago, and in that time no nominee has been treated this way. "Since public confirmation hearings began in 1916, the Senate has never denied a Supreme Court nominee a hearing and a vote," he said. "If Republicans refuse to uphold that standard now, they will be setting a new low in transparent government. We're asking them to do their job and give Judge Garland a hearing." Reid did not mention President George W. Bush's 2005 nomination of his friend and adviser, Harriet Miers, to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Miers was so heavily criticized for her lack of judicial experience, Bush withdrew her nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a confirmation hearing. "The Senate has several different routes to provide advice and consent, and over the years they've all been used," noted Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. For example, the Judiciary Committee "can say it doesn't support a nominee and won't hold a hearing. That option was first used about 200 years ago." The committee can also hold a hearing and refuse to send a nomination to the Senate floor, he said. Alternatively, a nomination can come to the floor and be filibustered or be defeated on a straight vote. Democrats have criticized Republican senators for refusing even to meet with Garland, but Crapo said that's not particularly unusual. "In general, most members will let the Judiciary Committee do its job before meeting with a nominee," he said. Four of the eight justices currently on the Supreme Court were appointed since Crapo was first elected to the Senate in 1998. When meeting with the nominees, he said his primary concern is their judicial philosophy. "Specifically with regard to whether they believe the Constitution should be interpreted strictly," he said. "If we're going to amend (the original intent), we should be doing that through processes other than judicial activism." The scope of the federal government - the extent to which it usurps state rights through expansive interpretations of the commerce clause or general welfare clause - is another major concern, Crapo said. So is a nominee's position on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, which is a primary reason why he opposes Judge Garland. While serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals, Garland voted to reconsider what's known as the Heller decision, which struck down a 1975 District of Columbia law that restricted the right of individuals to own handguns. The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the lower court ruling on a narrow 5-4 vote. Garland's willingness to reconsider the lower court decision "told me he would have reversed it," Crapo said. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, cited similar concerns with Garland, saying his position on the Second Amendment goes against "the heart and soul of Idaho." "He was on the wrong side of the Heller decision," Risch said. "That's a litmus test for me; once you say you'd vote differently on Heller, I'm done with you." As for the calls to take politics out of the Supreme Court confirmation process, Risch said that's "baloney." "You have nine (justices) voting on what type of culture we're going to live in," he said. "When you look at their votes on things like the power of the federal government, abortion, gun rights, they're all 5-4 decisions - and they aren't mixed 5-4 decisions. They break the same way, along ideological lines. That place has become as much a political machine as the White House or Congress." Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., met with Garland Wednesday and had a different perspective on his record. She could not be reached for comment, but in a news release indicated Garland is "a strong nominee who is absolutely qualified to serve on the Supreme Court." "I was especially interested in his thinking about the right to privacy and how it relates to women's reproductive rights," she said. "We also discussed campaign finance reform, his experience evaluating cases about the right of workers to organize and make their voices heard, and other issues people in Washington are focused on." During Thursday's news conference, Reid suggested public pressure will eventually force Republicans to hold a confirmation hearing. "I can't imagine that (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell, (R-Ky.), thinks this is helping his people who are up for re-election this year," he said. "They're facing the music. We feel the public is on our side."

Idaho joins long wait list as Senate fails to act on judicial nominees Idaho Statesman.com: Apr. 15- Rob Hotakainen WASHINGTON -At 82, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge is ready to call it quits, retiring as the longest-serving jurist in Idaho history. He got some good news last week, when President Barack Obama nominated his successor, Judge David Nye of Pocatello, ending a long search that began when Lodge announced his retirement in September of 2014. “We all knew that it was going to be a tough slog because Idaho is very conservative, as you know, and the president, not so much,” said Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch. If history is any indication, the next step may be even tougher: getting the U.S. Senate to vote anytime soon on whether to approve Nye for the job. While the Senate remains at loggerheads over how to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, that dispute is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to judicial fights on Capitol Hill. Nye is one of 50 of nominees awaiting a vote. The Senate on Monday approved a new federal judge for Tennessee, but, meanwhile, 85 other vacancies remained, according to theAdministrative Office of the U.S. Courts. North Carolina has had one court vacancy since 2005. The growing backlog is causing headaches in federal courthouses across the country, with overloaded caseloads and overworked judges and little relief in sight. “One district nominee has had a hearing this year, and it’s April,” said Carl Tobias, Williams Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law and a close observer of the Senate’s judicial confirmations. “So you can do the math. It’s not rocket science. It’s just a total shutdown as far as I can tell.” Idaho is now one of 34 jurisdictions facing a “judicial emergency,” with the number of cases overwhelming the number of judges, according to the Judicial Conference of the United States, a group of judges that advises Congress. “All over the country, you’ve got senior judges in their 80s, sometimes in their 90s, who are still working because they just don’t want to leave the other judges with even more work to do,” said Paul Gordon, senior legislative counsel for the liberal advocacy group People For the American Way. “It’s a bad situation.” Gordon said the current slowdown marks a sharp departure from the norm. With the confirmation Monday of Waverly Crenshaw Jr. as a new judge for Tennessee, the Senate has approved 17 judicial nominations since Republicans took control in 2015. Gordon said that compares to at least 40 circuit and district court nominees who’d been approved by the Democrat-controlled Senate in a similar time period during George W. Bush’s presidency. He noted that the number of confirmations last year was the fewest since 1960. Hoping to win a quick vote, Risch and Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo say they’ve already begun twisting arms with their colleagues, urging them to let Nye leapfrog ahead of some of the more controversial nominees. Both senators say they want the Senate to sign off on Nye before Congress adjourns for the year. “It’s very clear that we are in the last quarter of this Congress and so we need to move urgently. . . . The queue can get moved around,” Crapo said. Risch said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that they’ll succeed: “You can’t move anything in the Senate without 60 votes, and it generally takes negotiations between the two parties. We’ve already had numerous conversations.” With partisan warfare ruling the Senate, Tobias said the Idaho senators face long odds. He said the only hope for quick action will be if Crapo and Risch can convince Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of “how desperate the Idaho situation is.” But he said it will be difficult to convince all senators that Nye deserves an immediate vote when other nominees have waited much longer. “I cannot be very optimistic,” Tobias said. “I do think that it could be a very long wait. My best guess is confirmation next spring, depending on the election results. It is very unfair to Idaho judges and litigants.” Lodge, who began his judicial career in 1963, agreed to stay on the job after announcing his retirement but reduced his caseload to 75 percent last year. Since then, Idaho has used visiting judges from Washington state, Utah, California, Colorado, Iowa and elsewhere, with 25 to 30 judges from across the country volunteering to help, said Elizabeth “Libby” Smith, clerk of court for the Idaho federal court system. “That is one way we are trying to put a Band-Aid on this process and trying to keep the wheels of justice moving,” she said. It’s an unpopular choice for litigating attorneys. “Idaho lawyers don’t necessarily want visiting judges; they want their judges,” said Trudy Hanson Fouser, a Boise trial attorney and president of the Idaho State Bar. She credited U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, Idaho’s only full-time federal judge, for keeping the courts going, adding: “I think most places would just come to a screeching halt.” Risch said he and Crapo hope to convince senators that Nye, a district court judge for Idaho’s Sixth Judicial District Court since 2007, is a consensus choice who deserves speedy consideration. He said the two senators considered dozens of applicants, looking for the candidate who would satisfy them and the White House. “David Nye has a unique qualification that no other Idahoan has,” Risch said. “Three people agree that he should be the judge: the president, Senator Crapo and myself. . . . We knew it was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.” Last month, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, complained that the GOP-controlled Senate had all but stopped voting, even on “consensus nominees” who aroused no controversy. He accused Republicans of “listening to the moneyed Washington interest groups over their own constituents.” In January, Heritage Action of America, a conservative advocacy group, urged the Senate to block all confirmation votes on federal judges this year, allowing exceptions only for posts that are necessary for national security. The group said the Senate needed to take back its power after Obama earlier used executive orders dealing with gun control and immigration. Dan Holler, vice president for communications and government relations for Heritage Action for America, said that blocking votes is “certainly not ideal” for states such as Idaho but is necessary for Congress to reassert its constitutional authority. “That is not always the cleanest thing to do. But it’s incredibly important for the country to get that balance right, even if it’s temporarily inconvenient,” he said. Meanwhile, as Nye awaits his vote, Risch and Crapo are working to try to bring a third judgeship to their state. Idaho is now one of only three states – North Dakota and Vermont are the others – with two federal district court judges. Risch said Congress would have to approve such a plan, not an easy sell for a small state. “It’s big states that have muscle versus small states that don’t,” he said. Tobias offered his advice: Forget about it. “I think Judge Winmill should get used to having a huge caseload,” he said. “It doesn’t make any difference. If you can’t even fill the present vacancies, how are you going to get a new judgeship authorized?”

Judge quashes ‘secret society’ depositions By BRYAN CLARK Post Register April 8, 2016 Senior Judge Richard St. Clair on Thursday reversed his earlier ruling and blocked the deposition of seven members of the local Republican Party by Bonneville County Chairman Doyle Beck and Region 7 Chairman Bryan Smith. Beck and Smith had sought to force depositions from the local GOP members, including state Chairman Steve Yates. St. Clair initially granted their motion earlier this month, and depositions were set to begin later this month. “None of the targets of Smith and Beck’s legal bullying has done anything wrong,” the seven said in a statement. “None has anything to hide. All have every reason to resist this liberal use of the courts by Smith and Beck to engage in their political witch hunt.” Beck and Smith hoped to question the seven about an alleged “secret society” called the Idaho Prosperity Project, and its plans to change the balance of power in party leadership. But the seven prevailed in their motion to reconsider, and St. Clair quashed the subpoenas following a hearing. The motion relied on a seldom-used court regulation called Rule 27. The seven members took the position that Rule 27 exists in order to preserve testimony if a witness with important information may die or forget it. Beck and Smith argued that the rule exists in order to gather information that could be used in a potential lawsuit. Their prior filings indicate that they anticipated possible action for breach of duty. St. Clair sided with the seven party members. Tim Hopkins, an attorney who represented the seven party members, said St. Clair’s ruling is important because it’s the first time a judge in the local district has ruled on the meaning of Rule 27. It therefore sets a precedent judges will look to later. “It is important that Judge St. Clair found it appropriate to follow the generally accepted interpretation of this procedural rule,” Hopkins said. Beck and Smith said they are not discouraged by the ruling. “We’ll consider all of our options to get to the truth of who is behind the Idaho Prosperity Project,” Smith said. “I was set to find the truth, and I will find the truth,” Beck said.

Notable Idaho judges have roots in Pocatello law firm Idaho Press Tribune April 8, 2016 POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — A southeastern Idaho law firm has been the starting place for a long line of influential judges. The Idaho State Journal (http://bit.ly/1S1wuV7 ) reports that Idaho 6th District Judge David Nye, who was recently nominated by President Barack Obama to seat on the federal bench, used to work as an attorney at Merrill and Merrill law firm in Pocatello. The law firm has also employed Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2007. Smith wrote the dissenting opinion on the court's 2-1 ruling declaring California's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional in 2012. Meanwhile, District Judge Steven Dunn and Magistrate Judge Thomas Clark for Idaho's 6th Judicial District both have roots working as attorneys for Merrill and Merrill. Dave Gallafent, the firm's managing partner, says working in a small town means attorneys gain experience learning various aspects of the law, which is beneficial while transitioning to being a judge. He added that Nye, Smith, Dunn and Clark all specialized in civil litigation. "We do have talented people here, but part of their success is that they wanted to be judges," said Gallafent. The law firm has been churning out future judges since it first opened more than 100 years ago. The original owner Frank S. Dietrich was appointed as a U.S. District Court judge in 1907.

Judge quashes bid for depositions in eastern Idaho GOP ‘secret society’ case Spokane Eye on Boise April 8, 2016 Idaho Falls attorney Steve Taggart, who attended the court hearing today on the attempt by Bonneville County GOP officials Doyle Beck and Bryan Smith to depose a group of local and state GOP officials, reports that Senior Judge Richard St. Clair has quashed the move for the depositions. The judge had earlier given the go-ahead to the two to question the other officials under oath, but today granted a motion for reconsideration, overturned the earlier decision and put an end to it. Eagle attorney Christ Troupis represented Beck and Smith; Idaho Falls attorney Tim Hopkins represented the GOP officials who were targeted for depositions, including state party Chairman Steve Yates. Beck and Smith had charged that a “secret society” within the Idaho GOP was bent on ousting them from their party positions. Taggart reports that the judge, who heard the arguments by video conferencing while the attorneys appeared in the courtroom, said he thought the Idaho Supreme Court would side with the argument that pre-litigation depositions are only used to preserve testimony, as in cases in which someone is dying, sick or leaving the country, as opposed to Beck and Smith’s arguments that they can be used for the purpose of determining whom to sue. KIFI/KIDK TV in Idaho Falls has a full report here, including a link to the unsuccessful petition for the depositions.

Ammon man gets probation for molestation By TOM HOLM Post Register April 11, 2016 District Judge Joel Tingey on Monday sentenced an Ammon man to five years of probation for molesting a 13-year-old girl. Joshua David Johnson, 20, pleaded guilty Feb. 29 to felony injury to a child. The charge was reduced from lewd conduct with a child younger than 16, pursuant to a plea agreement. Tingey suspended a two- to five-year prison term and placed Johnson on probation. If Johnson is unsuccesful on his probation Tingey could impose the suspended prison term. Tingey ordered Johnson to complete sex offender treatment and gain full-time employment or schooling as a term of his probation. Johnson will not be added to the sex offender registry because the charge was reduced. Johnson also is required to have no avoidable contact with underage females. Court records show the now 14-year- old victim reported the molestation to Idaho Department of Health and Welfare employees, who reported it to the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office. The victim told investigators she met Johnson over Facebook and the two traded nude photos. Johnson told investigators he thought the victim was 17 years old. The victim told investigators she and Johnson touched each other inappropriately but that it was consensual. The victim’s mother told investigators she did not want Johnson’s life ruined as a result of the crime, court records show. John Dewey, Bonneville County chief deputy prosecutor, recommended probation for Johnson and a suspended sentence of two to 10 years in prison. Johnson’s attorney, Ron Bird, recommended a withheld judgment

Idaho prison officials look for place to put teen killer By REBECCA BOONE Idaho Press Tribune April 11, 2016 BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho teen has been sentenced to spend the next 20 years in an adult prison, forcing correction officials to look across the country to find a safe place for the 16-year-old to do his time. Eldon Samuel III was just 14 when he shot to death his drug-addicted father and then shot, stabbed and hacked to death his autistic younger brother in their northern Idaho home. Last week, 1st District Judge Benjamin Simpson sentenced him to spend the next two decades in prison, starting immediately. But federal laws prohibit minors from being held within sight or sound of adult prison inmates. Currently, the only way for Idaho prisons to meet those standards is to place the teen in solitary confinement. That's got Idaho Department of Correction officials scrambling to find a solution. "We need to keep him separate from our adult offenders, and unfortunately there are no other juveniles in our system," said Ashley Dowell, the department's deputy chief of prisons. The solution will likely be an out-of-state prison, Dowell said. Minors aren't unheard of in Idaho prisons, but haven't been a significant portion of the state's prison population for decades. Today, there is just one other minor under IDOC jurisdiction — a 17-year-old girl who is on probation. Another juvenile is serving a blended sentence and is expected to be transferred to an adult facility at age 18. Samuel has already done time in solitary. He spent more than three months in a 9-foot by 12-foot holding cell in a Kootenai County Jail when he was first charged. Experts believe extended solitary confinement amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho intervened on Samuel's behalf, asking the court to move him to juvenile detention. Eventually, a judge agreed and sent Samuel to a local detention facility until his trial was complete. The teen is returning to solitary for at least the next several days, however, as he undergoes the same receiving and diagnostic process that all state prison inmates go through. ACLU-Idaho spokesman Leo Morales said his organization is watching Samuel's case closely. "What this raises again is a serious issue with regards to our prisons in this state, an issue with how our judges sentence juveniles. We know that solitary confinement is really cruel and unusual, particularly for juveniles," Morales said. IDOC research analyst Sean Falconer said in an email that the vast majority of people who came under IDOC custody as juveniles were sentenced to either probation or a so-called rider program, where they serve a few months in prison before they are evaluated for possible early probation. Falconer said there are currently 218 adults who came under IDOC jurisdiction as juveniles, including 86 inmates currently serving prison terms. Juveniles are also a rarity in adult prisons nationwide. The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that there are roughly 1,200 youths held in adult state prison facilities, according to a 2013 report. That's less than a tenth of a percent of all inmates. And that number has been dropped dramatically over the past several years: Nearly 4,000 juveniles were held in state prisons in 2000. Florida, New York, Georgia, Connecticut and Michigan currently have the highest numbers, according to the BJS report. In Idaho, juveniles charged with certain felonies are automatically tried as adults. But those that are sentenced are often given blended sentences, serving time in a juvenile detention center until they become of age and can be transferred to an adult prison. During Samuel's sentencing hearing, Kootenai County Public Defender John Adams urged the judge to allow the teen to stay in juvenile detention for now, moving him to a prison when he turns 19 or 21. Adams cited Samuel's traumatized upbringing: His father was abusive, both children were neglected and Samuel was in charge of caring for his autistic brother. His father also believed that a zombie apocalypse was imminent, and tried to train Samuel to fight off the monsters in case of a doomsday event, according to court testimony. However, the judge noted the seriousness of the crime. Samuel's younger brother tried to hide under a bed, but Samuel found him and shot, stabbed and hacked the child with a machete more than 100 times. The judge said he wasn't comfortable having the teen housed with other juvenile offenders, opting instead to house him in adult prison for the entirety of his sentence.

Sen. Risch defends process to select new fed judge Spokane Eye on Boise April 11, 2016 BOISE – Now that Idaho finally has a nominee for its vacant federal judgeship, state 6thDistrict judge David Nye, Idaho Sen. Jim Risch is defending the lengthy, secretive process he and Sen. Mike Crapo followed over the past 19 months to vet potential nominees, saying anything else would have violated the U.S. Constitution. “I solicited advice from people whose judgment I trust, but nobody, nobody voted on this but me,” Risch said. “No commission, no group – I made the decision, as the Constitution requires.” Russell Wheeler, a fellow with the Brookings Institution, former deputy director of the Federal Judicial Center and an expert on the selection of federal judges, said, “That’s patently absurd.” Senators in roughly 20 states use “vetting committees,” often bipartisan ones, to help screen nominees for federal judge; the president makes the nomination, and the Senate confirms it. Committees typically are used to “preserve the senators’ prerogative while being more open, transparent and inclusive,” Wheeler wrote in a 2011 paper on the panels. Wheeler said, “By Risch’s logic, the president is violating the Constitution when he submits the names to the FBI to have them do a full field investigation. It’s not unconstitutional, it’s due diligence.” In the past decade, home-state senators have taken an increasing role in selection of federal judges, through an unwritten rule in the Senate Judiciary Committee requiring both home-state senators to complete “blue slips” saying they approve of nominees for federal judge in their state before any hearings are held. That essentially gives the two senators a veto over judge selections, forcing the White House to work with them in selecting nominees. “The Constitution says nothing about senators making recommendations to the White House,” Wheeler said. “That’s just extra-constitutional aspect of the nomination process that’s grown up over the years, that the home state senators have outsized role in recommending to the president who the president might nominate. But there’s nothing in the Constitution that calls for that.” The last time Idaho got a new federal district judge, in 1995, then-Sens. Larry Craig and Dirk Kempthorne, both Republicans, convened a bipartisan commission, including five Democrats and four Republicans, to vet 38 candidates and make recommendations on a new federal judge. It included Idaho attorneys from both parties, a former U.S. Attorney for Idaho, and the chairs of the House and Senate judiciary committees. The three finalists were then-state 6th District Judge B. Lynn Winmill; Idaho Attorney General Larry EchoHawk; and U.S. Magistrate Judge Larry Boyle of Boise. Winmill was the commission’s unanimous choice; he was nominated by then-President Bill Clinton and confirmed in late 1995 amid praise from both Craig and Kempthorne. Winmill is now Idaho’s only full- time federal district judge, since longtime Judge Edward Lodge took senior status last July 3, reducing his caseload. The federal courts have declared a “judicial emergency” in Idaho due to the lack of judicial resources, and out-of-state judges have been brought in to hear Idaho cases. President Obama nominated Nye last week, amid praise from Risch and Crapo. “It takes a unanimous vote of three people,” Risch said, “and obviously those people are the president, Sen. Crapo and myself.” He said, “Judge Nye is outstanding. I’m just incredibly satisfied with where we finally landed on this.” After Lodge announced his retirement plans in September of 2014, Risch and Crapo that December began accepting email inquiries from interested applicants. Applicants were “numerous, in the dozens, in the dozens,” Risch said. However, Nye wasn’t among them; he said last week that he was contacted personally by the two senators by phone in January of 2016 about the position. “We considered everyone who applied, and some who didn’t,” Risch said, “on the basis of what we wanted to see from a philosophical and judicial standpoint.” James Ruchti, a Pocatello attorney and Idaho Trial Lawyers Association board member who’s praised Nye’s selection, said, “I was surprised that the process that was used was so opaque and messy. There are lots of qualified, quality attorneys and judges in the state of Idaho that could have been appointed to that position, and I didn’t feel like the process was done in such a way that we had a fair opportunity to see who those people should have been. Having said that, I do think, Judge Nye, he’s one of those people, so they got there at the end of the day. But that is not the process I envisioned nor one that I think served the state well.” Last spring, there was an outcry from female members of the Idaho Bar after word surfaced that the two senators had interviewed only four men for the lifetime appointment, though at least five prominent female Idaho attorneys, including at least one sitting judge and two high- ranking prosecutors, had applied but not been interviewed. Idaho is the only state in the 9th Circuit and one of just two in the nation that has never had a female U.S. district judge. Risch and Crapo subsequently announced that they were interviewing both male and female candidates, and some female candidates were interviewed. Last fall, Idaho attorneys reported receiving bar questionnaires about a possible nomination of Boise attorney Erika Malmen to the seat; she was a surprising choice as she had little trial experience, but strong GOP political connections, as her husband, Jeff Malmen, senior vice president of Idaho Power Corp., is among the state’s top GOP operatives. That nomination subsequently didn’t proceed, and similar vetting began for state District Judge Richard Bevan of Twin Falls, who was widely praised in Idaho as a qualified applicant; his nomination, also, didn’t proceed. “There were a number of people who were vetted formally and informally by our side, that is myself and Crapo, by the White House’s side, and even some by the two camps together,” Risch said. “I’d like to have done it the day after we decided we were going to do this, but it didn’t work that way,” he said. “Yes, I did spend an inordinate amount of time on it, but it is a unique and substantial obligation that I have under the Constitution to do this.” Crapo said he didn’t think using a vetting committee would have speeded up the process. “We actually submitted our first round of recommendations to the White House in probably early May, which was two or three months before Judge Lodge’s retirement,” he said. The delay, he said, came in finding someone acceptable both to the senators and the White House. Risch said he paid no attention to the gender of applicants. “No one had an advantage because they were a man, no one had an advantage because they were a woman,” he said. “Those considerations were off the table.” Crapo said, “I think that it would be a very positive thing if we could have at some point, and at some point soon, a female judge in the district of Idaho. ... It did not work out in this case. ... In this particular case, the evaluation and the vetting process ultimately was able to be finalized on Judge Nye. But I think that is a very worthy objective that we should seek to fulfill as soon as we reasonably can.” Risch, an attorney, said it likely hasn’t hurt Idaho to have visiting federal judges brought in from other states. “They probably ought to do more of that, because they’ve got a lot of judges that don’t have near the caseload that our judges do,” he said. “You would prefer to have a judge from your own state hearing cases, but when I practiced up there, I had cases where they brought judges in from out of state, we were perfectly satisfied with that.” Confirmation prospects So what are the chances that Idaho’s newly nominated federal district judge, David Nye, will get confirmed? Idaho’s two GOP senators, Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, say they’re pushing hard for it to happen this year, despite the standoff between the White House and the Senate over the Senate’s refusal to hold hearings on President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland. Russell Wheeler, a fellow with the Brookings Institution and an expert on the selection of federal judges, said the high court fight is unrelated to district judge confirmation prospects, as the Senate has been confirming district judges, but it’s been doing so very slowly. “He’s got 34 people ahead of him, 34 pending nominees. And the Senate has been moving at a snail’s pace,” Wheeler said. Of those 34 pending U.S. District Court nominees, 14 already have had Senate hearings, which Nye still would need to undergo. Wheeler said the chances of Nye’s nomination being confirmed this year are “slim to none,” unless Idaho’s senators can “pull some very powerful strings.” Idaho Sen. Jim Risch said he and Sen. Mike Crapo already have met with Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley about a possible hearing – even before the nomination was announced – and lunched with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week to press the case for confirmation. Wheeler said of Grassley and McConnell, “They’re the ones that control this.” “It’s doable,” Risch said. “Is it going to happen? You know, that’s like trying to say who’s going to be president of the United States these days.” Risch said the rule is that the Judiciary Committee processes nominees in the order in which they come in for hearing, but after that, “they are not required to be handled in order, and that becomes a matter of give and take with the other side. And the closer you get to the end, they’ll bunch ‘em together frequently and do them on voice vote.” Crapo said, “Sen. Risch and I are very aggressively working to try to get this nomination moved.” He added, “One thing that helps us in that process: We have the White House in support of this nomination. We truly do have bipartisanship on this. We’ve done the vetting and done the negotiation and worked this out.”

State Bar to host forum for SupCourt hopefuls; McKenzie first says he’ll skip for campaign fundraiser, then changes plan Spokane Eye on Review April 12, 2016 The Idaho State Bar will host a forum for the candidates running for the Idaho Supreme Court this spring on Tuesday, April 19, at the Idaho Law & Justice Learning Center; the 4-6 p.m. forum will be streamed live online. The state Bar announced that attorney Robyn Brody of Rupert; Idaho Court of Appeals Judge Sergio Gutierrez of Nampa; and longtime Deputy Attorney General Clive Strong of Boise; all will participate, but the fourth candidate, state Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, “said he could not attend due to a previously scheduled election event.” McKenzie told Eye on Boise this afternoon that he’s hoping he can attend after all. “I had a fundraiser set that night a long time ago,” he said, also from 4-6 p.m. and also in Boise. But, he said, “I’m still figuring out what role we as a candidate have with respect to those.” Under Canon 5 of the Idaho Code of Judicial Conduct, candidates for judicial office are under strict restrictions with regard to campaign fundraising; Canon 5 says, “A candidate shall not solicit campaign contributions in person.” They’re only allowed to solicit contributions through a committee – and the committee’s not supposed to tell the judge who gave, even though it’s a matter of public record. “Judicial candidates and judges should avoid obtaining the names of contributors to the judicial campaign,” the canon says. McKenzie said he’d been seeking advice from past judicial candidates. “I may not even be able to go there,” he said of the fundraiser. Late this afternoon, he spoke with the director of the Idaho Judicial Council, and was advised that he could “be there and introduce yourself, and then leave when they basically are starting the event.” He said the idea is to avoid the judicial candidate participating in the fundraising. But since political fundraisers typically charge for admission, rather than soliciting donations during the event itself, McKenzie said he decided this afternoon, “I’m just going to have my committee host the event, and I won’t even go over there while it’s going on.” And, he’ll contact the state Bar and let them know he’ll participate in the candidate forum. “Hopefully they’ve got four chairs still,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s interesting because it’s so different than other races. … I don’t want to… have any issues.” He said he may swing by the fundraiser after its official end. “I don’t think people will make contributions there, but if they did, it would be done, so it wouldn’t be an issue,” he said. McKenzie has been elected to the state Senate as a Republican from Nampa seven times, but this is the first time he’s sought judicial office. The election for the nonpartisan post is May 17, during Idaho’s primary election. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent, the top two vote-getters will face off in the November general election. The vacancy comes as current Chief Justice Jim Jones retires, stepping down at the end of his current term. Incidentally, next Tuesday won’t be the only time the candidates for justice face off. The Idaho Debates, sponsored by the Idaho Press Club, Idaho Public Television and the League of Women Voters of Idaho, are working to organize a televised debate for the Supreme Court candidates that will be broadcast statewide.

Convicted Moscow rapist claims inefficient counsel By Chelsea Embree, Lewiston Tribune staff writer April 13, 2016 A 23-year-old Twin Falls man convicted of rape in Latah County clutched a tissue Monday, visibly upset as his attorney argued his March 2013 trial counsel was unprepared and ineffective. Jesse M. Vierstra appeared Monday in Latah County 2nd District Court for an oral arguments hearing regarding his petition for post-conviction relief. Vierstra was sentenced June 2013 to five to 15 years in prison for the rape of a woman outside a University of Idaho fraternity house. Judge John R. Stegner, who is presiding over the petition, will issue a written ruling at a later date. The conviction stems from an incident during the university's homecoming weekend in October 2012. Vierstra, a one-time UI student, was visiting Moscow and attended a fraternity party. He and the victim were kissing on a bench outside, according to court records. The woman testified during the trial that Vierstra then attacked her when she attempted to end the interaction, carried her around the building, held her to the ground and raped her. Vierstra is seeking to have the conviction and sentence vacated, or to at least be resentenced. Ketchum attorney Andrew Parnes, who is representing Vierstra, argued Monday that Vierstra's attorneys did not properly investigate the case before it went to trial. Vierstra was represented by attorneys Charles E. Kovis and Benjamin M. Onosko at the time. "The attorneys never talked to witnesses," Parnes said. "They admitted that. They never consulted experts." Kovis and Onosko didn't apply for funds for a private investigator until February 2013, Parnes said, and the investigator did not begin work until March 6, 2013. The trial began March 18, 2013. Parnes said defense attorneys "essentially abandoned" corroboration by relying on only Vierstra's testimony during the trial. Vierstra has argued that he provided his attorneys with a list of potential witnesses, and that the investigator was still attempting to contact many of them as the case went to trial. Those witness testimonies "are needed to show that Mr. Vierstra, when he was testifying, is telling the truth," Parnes said. Latah County Deputy Prosecutor Bradley J. Rudley noted some of the witnesses were contacted and didn't want to speak with the investigator. There was plenty of evidence and testimony presented to corroborate Vierstra's version of events, Rudley said. Rudley argued Monday that Kovis and Onosko made tactical, strategic decisions in the case. "In this case, trial counsel exercised reasonable judgment in their investigations, developed a reasonable trial strategy and employed that," Rudley said. Both Parnes and Rudley noted Kovis and Onosko logged only 20 work hours on the case from October 2012 through February 2013. But Rudley noted the defense attorneys logged 136 work hours during March 2013, when the trial was taking place. Vierstra has alleged that Kovis and Onosko also failed by not obtaining a psychosexual evaluation. But the defense attorneys contacted two mental health experts, Rudley said, and were advised that Vierstra's refusal to acknowledge his guilt meant he would not be amenable to treatment. Parnes argued that Kovis "speculated" the evaluation may not be valuable, adding that the lack of the evaluation became a concern at sentencing. A prison rehabilitation program would have been appropriate if a psychosexual evaluation had been completed, Parnes said, noting that the probation department had recommended placement in such a program. "Mr. Vierstra's been in custody now three years because his trial counsel made some decision not to do it," Parnes said. "... He lost his freedom because of that."

John Lee murder trial not postponed Daily News April 13, 2016 Latah County 2nd District Judge John Stegner denied postponing John Lee's sentencing date unless there is no way the defense can arrange testimonies from its expert witnesses. Defense Attorney Charles Kovis asked Stegner on Tuesday for a one- or two-day extension to have expert witnesses who are unavailable for the current May 24 sentencing date make the trial. Lee pleaded guilty in March to three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his adoptive mother, Terri Grzebielski, 61; his landlord, David Trail, 76; and Moscow Arby's manager, Belinda Niebuhr, 47. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for injuring 40-year-old Michael Chin of Seattle in the incident. Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson told the judge he felt it was too late to move the date because members from the victims' families were already planning on traveling to Moscow from out of state to attend the sentencing. "We would like to keep it on the 24th," Thompson said. Kovis is arranging to have the expert witnesses testify by video or telephone. "We don't have a final answer yet," Thompson said. "Chuck is going to look into all those options and see what works best." I.F. man gets at least 10 years for kidnapping By TOM HOLM Post Register April 13, 2016 Faustino Anaya spent his 20th birthday Tuesday in the Bonneville County Jail. On Wednesday District Judge Bruce Pickett sentenced Anaya to spend at least 10 more birthdays in prison for his involvement in kidnapping a man and threatening him with a gun. Pickett sentenced Anaya to 10 to 25 years in prison. Anaya, of Idaho Falls, pleaded guilty Feb. 5 to one count of second-degree kidnapping and one count of delivery of a controlled substance. An additional drug case as well as an aggravated battery charge were dismissed, pursuant to a plea agreement. Court records show Anaya helped kidnap Brandon Bykonen and threatened to shoot his knee caps with a rifle before three co- defendants took Bykonen to the foothills and cut off one of his fingers. A binding plea agreement required Anaya to serve a fixed 10-year prison term. Tanner Crowther, Bonneville County deputy prosecutor, recommended a 15-year indeterminate term to follow the fixed term so that Anaya could remain under supervision when he is released from prison. Crowther said Anaya did not have a job and instead sold drugs to make a living. Anaya sold meth to an undercover officer May 4 and was charged for delivery of a controlled substance. Crowther said Bykonen had wanted to attend the sentencing but withdrew due to the traumatic memories of losing his finger. “He told me he used to make pinkie promises with his children; he doesn’t have that option anymore because he lost his pinkie finger,” Crowther said. Anaya’s attorney, Joshua Garner, recommended a 10- to 13-year prison term. Garner said his client was like a different person when he used methamphetamine and that drug use influenced his decision-making the night of the incident. “At the age of 8 he joined a gang in California,” Garner said. “At the age of 16 he began using meth two to three times a week … For the evening in question, Faustino acknowledges that he does not recall parts of it because he was using meth that night.” Prior to being sentenced Anaya said he takes responsibility for his actions and wants to be successful when he is eventually released from prison. “I have a big heart,” he said. “After this long period of incarceration I want to create my own family and I want to be a dad.” Court records show Anaya along with Sarah Oden, Alvaro Oseguera and Devin Crawford kidnapped Bykonen and bound his hands before taking him to a remote field on Lincoln Road. The group accused Bykonen of being a “narc” by talking to police resulting in Oden being charged with drug possession. Anaya pointed a gun at the victim throughout the incident and blindfolded the victim with a bandana. Oseguera was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison for organizing the kidnapping. Crawford and Oden have sentencing hearings in the coming months. Pickett said Anaya has the potential to be a contributing member of society. But the use of methamphetamine created a “drug-induced paranoia,” in Anaya, leading to the crime, Pickett said. “I don’t think you were fully aware what was going on,” Pickett said. “But I do think there is hope for you and that’s why there is that amount of supervision, to help you.”

Ashton man imprisoned for impregnating teen girl By TOM HOLM Post Register April 13, 2016 District Judge Gregory Moeller on Tuesday sentenced an Ashton man to three to 15 years in prison for impregnating a 14-year-old girl and then absconding to Missouri to marry her. Aaron Seaton, 24, pleaded guilty Jan. 22 in Fremont County Court to rape of a victim who is younger than 16 and the perpetrator is 18 years old or older. Seaton will be added to the sex offender registry. Moeller ordered him to undergo sex offender and substance abuse treatment while incarcerated. Court records show Seaton met the victim in Ashton and lived in a trailer on her grandparent’s property, where the victim often stayed with him. Seaton supplied the girl with alcohol and then sexually abused her several times in June. The victim became pregnant. She later lost the child due to a miscarriage. Court records show Seaton was on probation for a driving under the influence conviction out of Bannock County at the time of the abuse. When the girl’s parents learned she was pregnant, Seaton offered to marry the girl to avoid any criminal charges. The two went to Kansas City, Mo., and were married. The marriage has since been annulled. Seaton previously testified he had sex with the victim once. Seaton also is reported to have contacted the victim via Facebook in violation of a no contact order. Both prosecution and defense attorneys recommended Seaton be placed on probation. Moeller said imprisonment was appropriate due Seaton’s past criminal history, lying under oath and violating a no contact order.

Rigby man sentenced for meth distribution POST REGISTER April 14, 2016 A Rigby man was sentenced in federal court to 6 1/2 years in prison Wednesday for possession with intent to distribute about one-third of a pound of methamphetamine. Francisco Vega, 41, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release by District Judge Lynn Winmill, according to a news release. Vega took a plea bargain with U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson in August. The charges stem from a February incident in which police received a tip that Vega and two co-defendants were holding a large amount of methamphetamine in a red cooler. Police conducting surveillance watched Vega and another man load the cooler into a truck, and when they stopped the truck a drug- sniffing dog alerted to the presence of drugs. After the hotel room was searched, a total of 3.3 pounds of methamphetamine were ultimately uncovered, and two other defendants — Erica Caldera, 37, of Paris, Calif. and Anastacio Pacheco-Luna, 55, of Rigby — were also charged.