Lake County District Court news for Oct. 28, 2010
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Judge C.B. McNeil dealt with the following cases Wednesday, Oct. 20:
Mandy Moran, 29, Pablo, pleaded not guilty to assault on a peace officer, a felony.
According to court records, charges stem from a September 25 incident where Polson Police responded to a report of an unruly person at Southshore Lounge. A police officer arrived and found Moran arguing with the bouncer in the doorway. The officer took Moran, who appeared agitated and under the influence of alcohol, to his patrol car. He asked her for her identification, but she said she did not have to tell him anything, and said an expletive to him. Moran identified herself as a tribal member, so the officer handcuffed her and placed her in the back seat to wait for a tribal officer to arrive.
When the tribal officer arrived, he spoke to Moran, and since she appeared calm, he asked her to step out of the car. She said she couldn’t move, and when the tribal officer leaned in to help get her feet out of the car, Moran kicked the tribal officer in the face, causing pain and a swollen lip.
Moran remains at liberty. An omnibus hearing is set for Wednesday, Dec. 22 at 9 a.m. and a jury trial is set for March 14, 2011, at 9 a.m.
Judge Deborah Kim Christopher dealt with the following cases Thursday, Oct. 21:
James Wasson, 22, Ronan, pleaded not guilty to burglary, a felony.
Wasson remains at liberty, and an omnibus hearing is set for Thursday, Dec. 23 at 9 a.m. A jury trial is set for Monday, Feb. 7, 2011, at 9 a.m.
According to court documents, charges stem from an October 1 incident where a Ronan woman called 911 to report a male running from her house as she came home. Soon after, she called back to say that some perfume and numerous DVD recordings were missing from her home.
The victim’s neighbor also called the police shortly after to report that a male had just dropped two bags over a fence near her residence and then ran away. The neighbor retrieved the bags, which were full of DVD movies.
The victim reported that she thought the man was someone she knew as “Bubba,” and that he was the boyfriend of someone she knew.
A Ronan officer went to the girlfriend’s house to ask where “Bubba” was, and although she said he was not at home, Wasson eventually came out from hiding in a corner and said his nickname was Bubba.
After an interview with the police officer, Wasson, aka Bubba, admitted entering the victim’s residence and stealing DVDs.
Paul Ross Pendery, 21, Missoula, pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal possession of dangerous drugs, a felony; operating with expired registration – failure to reregister, a misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle without making application for transfer or registration, a misdemeanor.
According to court records, charges stem from a July 22 incident when a Montana State Trooper pulled over a blue station wagon with expired registration, driven by Pendery near Town Pump in Polson.
The trooper noticed Pendery looked very nervous, and was shaking when he handed his documents to the trooper. Pendery said there was Ativan in the vehicle that he took for anxiety, and he did not have a prescription for it.
Pendery didn’t initially give consent for the trooper to search the vehicle but later did give consent. However, the trooper would not search it at that point because Pendery had already denied consent.
The trooper told Pendery he could leave when the tickets were printed but that the vehicle and everything in it would be detained in anticipation of a search.
At that point Pendery wanted to take his backpack with him, and insisted the trooper search it. After ensuring that Pendery was willing to voluntarily allow the trooper to look through the backpack, the trooper found a prescription bottle with 31 Lorazepam pills, a dangerous drug.
Pendery told the trooper that he didn’t misuse the pills; he just took them for anxiety, and did not have a prescription for them.
An omnibus hearing and pre-trial hearing will be submitted to the clerk of courts and sent to Judge David Cybulski’s jurisdiction in Wolf Point he can set a trial date.
