Lake County District Court news for June 3, 2010
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Judge C.B. McNeil dealt with the following cases May 26, 2010:
Christopher Cheever Huntsman, 28, Polson, appeared in court for sentencing in two separate cases.
In one case, he was committed to State Department of Corrections for 20 years with 15 suspended for felony aggravated assault and 10 years with all suspended for felony criminal endangerment.
The charges stem from a Feb. 9 incident when Polson Police were called to St. Joseph’s Hospital to investigate suspected child abuse. When the responding officer arrived at the hospital, he observed bruising on the right side of the baby’s face and interviewed Huntsman, as well as the baby’s mother.
The medical staff at the hospital reported that the baby suffered severe head trauma and was bleeding from the brain.
Huntsman was then questioned again and he admitted that he was so frustrated with the baby’s crying that he picked her up and shook her for an estimated 30 seconds.
In the other case, he was committed to State Department of Corrections for five years for a previously revoked deferred sentence.
In 2003, Huntsman was found guilty of felony theft, misdemeanors trespassing to vehicles and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to three years deferred for theft and six months in jail suspended for each misdemeanor. All sentences were to run concurrently. This sentence was revoked earlier this year after Huntsman was charged with the offenses in the previous case.
Ryan Anthony Charlo, 25, Pablo, received a deferred imposition of sentence for three years. The sentence commits Charlo to Lake County Jail for 90 days with credit for 45 days already served for criminal endangerment.
According to court records, the charge stems from a Feb. 20 incident when Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to the Northwoods Trailer Park in Pablo on a possible gunshot and altercation report. Three males were interviewed by law enforcement and stated that Charlo had gotten into an argument with his brother, and that during the argument, Charlo had pointed a gun at his brother three times and fired the gun in the air once.
The brother stated that he they began arguing at his home and when they got into the car to go to the trailer park, Charlo pointed a gun at him, punched him, and that’s when he fired the gun in the air.
Robert Joseph Conley, 60, Trout Creek, pleaded not guilty to felony DUI and misdemeanor driving while privilege to do so is revoked. An omnibus hearing was set for Wednesday, June 30 at 9 a.m.
According to court records, the charges stem from an April 6 incident when a Tribal Officer pulled over Conley after observing him make several U-turns on US Hwy 93, cross the center and fog lines, and then almost turn into a ditch.
Conley admitted to the officer that he’d had seven mixed drinks before driving and told the officer that he did not have a driver’s license or insurance in the car.
When a Sheriff’s Deputy took over, he noted that Conley had unsteady balance, smelled of an alcoholic beverage and had slurred speech and glassy eyes.
Desiree Weed, 30, Polson, pleaded not guilty to two counts of felony burglary, and two counts of misdemeanor theft. An omnibus hearing was set for June 30 at 9 a.m.
According to court records, the charges stem from Weed’s connection to two separate break-ins at a Polson hardware store. In the first, she allegedly took $260 on December 13. Security cameras were then installed and she was then identified taking $225 on April 9.
Lorena Ann Couture, 40, Pablo, admitted to felony criminal endangerment and was found guilty. Sentencing is scheduled for June 30 at 9 a.m.
According to court records, the charge stems from a Feb. 5 incident at 1:30 a.m. when a Flathead Tribal Officer was patrolling Pablo West Road and pulled over a vehicle that had an expired registration.
The driver, identified as Couture, was noted by the officer as having a strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from her breath, her eyes were red and glossy and her speech was slow and slurred.
Multiple sobriety tests determined that Couture was impaired. A breath sample showed a BAC of .124%.
Lester O’Bleness, 34, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was sentenced to State Department of Corrections for five years for each of two counts of felony criminal sale of dangerous drugs. The new sentence came after a previously deferred sentence from March 2000 was revoked for multiple violations to his probation.
Justin Christopher Teigen, 29, St. Ignatius, received eight years at State Department of Corrections for with all suspended for each felony criminal endangerment and felony tampering with a witness.
The new sentence came after a previously deferred sentence from April 2009 was revoked for multiple violations to his probation.
Judge Deborah Kim Christopher dealt with the following cases May 29, 2010:
Zach Edward Langston, 19, Polson, received a deferred imposition of sentence for three years for the offense of felony negligent vehicular assault. He was also ordered to pay all fees and surcharges and is to serve 14 days in Lake County Jail within the next six months.
According to court records, the charges stem from a Feb. 22 incident when a Montana Highway Patrol Trooper responded to a one-vehicle crash early in the morning on Mud Lake Trail.
When the trooper arrived on scene, the driver of the vehicle, Langston, and a passenger, had already been transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital. From the physical evidence the trooper determined that the vehicle had been traveling eastbound on Mud Lake Trial when the driver lost control and over corrected to the left, then ran off the north side of the road. The vehicle then went through a fence, rolled several times and came to rest on its roof.
The trooper observed several open beer cans in the vehicle and around the crash site. A blood drawing result indicated that Langston had a BAC of .1 gm/100 ml.
Approximately two months later, the trooper interviewed the passenger who told him that Langston lost control of the vehicle and that he had acquired a number of injuries in the crash.
Ernesto Mariano Silva, 34, Polson, appeared in court for an omnibus hearing regarding his felony assault on a minor charge. The hearing was conducted and a status conference was scheduled for July 8 and a jury trial set for July 26.
According to court records, the charge stems from a Nov. 6 incident when a Lake County Sheriff’s Detective was contacted by a social worker who stated that the previous evening, she had been notified that a 4-year-old child had been brought to the emergency room at Ronan’s St. Luke Hospital. The social worker had been informed that the child was brought in by her mother and her stepfather and that several bruises were noted on the child’s back and buttocks.
During an interview that morning with the detective, the mother and stepfather stated that Silva had custody of the child from Nov. 2-5. The stepfather picked up the child and after the child was brought home, the bruises were noticed and when asked how they got there, the child said that they were the result of a spanking. The mother stated that the child was born premature and has had issues in the past with potty training. She further stated that Silva had said he spanked the child because of an incident when the child soiled its pants earlier in the week.
When the detective interviewed the child, he noticed that there were also marks on the child’s foot and arm that appeared similar to that of a cigarette burns.
Justin M. Seely, 42, Hot Springs, pleaded not guilty to
An omnibus hearing was set for June 17 at 9 a.m. to felony criminal endangerment and misdemeanor criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to court records, the charges stem from a May 13 incident, when Seely allegedly shot a rifle at the door of his sister’s trailer during an argument.
When Seely was detained for an investigation, officers seized a .22 caliber rifle and a pipe commonly used to smoke marijuana.
