Courts
A Lake County man who entered a no-contest plea to the amended charge of felony criminal endangerment at District Court in Polson on Feb. 5 was committed to the Montana Department of Corrections on March 25 for five years with all that time suspended. William Baptiste Pierre, 34, was initially facing an assault with a weapon charge, which is a more serious offense, but he accepted the no-contest plea to the lesser charge. According to court records, on Sept. 14, 2018, Ronan police responded to a report that Pierre had pointed a gun at another person. At the scene, a man said he had gone to bed at around 1 a.m. The man said he awoke to the sound of someone banging on the door. ...
POLSON – The 20th Judicial District Court in Lake County put out a notice to attorneys on March 17 with guidelines concerning how to proceed with cases as the COVID-19 virus spreads. The administrative order from District Court Judge James Manley states the COVID-19 virus is expected to conti...
A Woods Bay man entered a plea of guilty at District Court in Polson on March 11 to felony theft. Michael Austin Swindler, 30, was accused of stealing a dump truck from a storage unit in Woods Bay. According to court records, on Aug. 21, 2018, a man reported his 2009 Chevy Tiltmaster Dump Truck was missin...
A St. Ignatius man was committed to the Montana Department of Corrections for five years with no time suspended on what Lake County Attorney Steve Eschenbacher says is his ninth DUI. Judge James Manley handed down the sentence to Douglas Cecil Dumont, 60, at District Court in Polson on March 4. Five...
Story by Jeff Smith of Anderson Broadcasting for the Valley Journal A high speed pursuit led to criminal charges for a St. Ignatius man. Shonko Christy-Lacounte, 22, entered a plea of not guilty in District Court at Polson February 26, to felony criminal endangerment. Christy-Lacounte...
MISSOULA — The Flathead Joint Board of Control’s former executive administrative assistant, Johanna Clark, was indicted on federal charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in United States District Court on Feb. 26 in Missoula. According to court documents, Clark is faci...
After about two hours of deliberating, a jury found a Lake County man not guilty on felony charges of burglary and aggravated assault. Donald Isadore Mitchell, 36, was accused of breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s house and hitting a sleeping man in the face with an unspecified object. According t...
It took a Lake County jury less than an hour to find a St. Ignatius man guilty of felony assault on a peace officer. The trial for William G. Rossbach, 43, began the morning of Feb. 5. Closing arguments were heard the following day and by 11:30 a.m. the guilty verdict was reached. It was the seco...
A Missoula man has avoided a felony charge of criminal endangerment by accepting a plea agreement at District Court in Polson on Jan. 29. Dakota McCarty, 28, was charged with felony criminal endangerment but pleaded guilty by way of a plea agreement to misdemeanor negligent endangerment for a high-speed p...
A Polson man was committed to the Montana Department of Corrections for 13 months on a felony charge of driving while under the influence. Brennan Keith Vaska, 27, was also fined $5,000 for the DUI, $100 for misdemeanor theft and ordered to pay $800 for the cost of his public defender. District Judg...
