Lake County court reports ...
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District Court

Judge Deborah K. Christopher dealt with the following cases on Thursday, Nov. 5:
• Jacob Lee Boykin, 28, of Polson pleaded guilty and after the court made its findings, was found guilty of felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs and misdemeanor driving while license is suspended or revoked. Boykin was sentenced to the Department of Corrections for five years with all of that time suspended except 45 days to be served in the Lake County Jail for possession of drugs. For driving with a suspended or revoked license, he was sentenced to LCJ for six months with all of that time suspended except two days. In Accordance with the plea agreement, Boykin was also fined $1,635.
According to court records, Boykin was pulled over on a traffic stop on Highway 93 near mile marker 56 by Montana Highway Patrol troopers on Nov. 27, 2008. A record check on the truck driven by Boykin turned up with an expired registration. The troopers noticed a strong odor of raw marijuana emanating from the truck.
Boykin did not possess a drivers license and did not give permission to search the truck. Boykin also lied about two prior arrests for drug offenses in 2000 involving methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
The troopers arrested Boykin and impounded the truck, which was searched following receipt of a search warrant. Found in the truck, according to court records, was a baggy of marijuana weighing 214.5 grams, a baggy of marijuana weighing 14.5 grams, a food saver bag with residual marijuana, a marijuana grinder, rolling papers, and two marijuana pipes.
• Stephane Fay Wild, 22, of Las Vegas, NV, was found guilty of felony theft and was sentenced to the DOC for two years with all suspended except 20 days to be served in the LCJ and will run consecutive to the sentence imposed in Flathead County. She was also fined $210 according to a plea agreement.
According to court records, Lake and Flathead County Sheriff’s Offices received reports of a theft in the months of March, April and May of 2008 in a home residence in Lake County. The homeowner suspected his daughter had stolen jewelry and other items.
Several items were identified in a pawn shop in Kalispell.
Upon arrest in Flathead County in an unrelated theft, Wild admitted to taking jewelry and a pair of skis without her parent’s permission and pawned them. The value of the items was in excess of $1,000.
• Marty Robert Evans, 26, of Missoula was found guilty of indecent exposure and was sentenced to the LCJ for six months. Evans was previously sentenced on Oct. 1 to the Montana State Prison for 50 years with 20 years suspended for the offense of attempted sexual assault. In May a jury found Evans guilty of sexual intercourse without consent and not guilty to sexual assault, but he was never sentenced on the offense of indecent exposure until last week’s court.
• Eugene Joseph Depoe, 45, of Arlee pleaded not guilty to felony driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. An omnibus hearing is set for Thursday, Dec. 3 at 9 a.m.
According to court records, the charge stems from a Sept. 25 incident when Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a report of an occupied vehicle in the ditch off of North Valley Creek Rd.
When the deputy arrived, a black car was partway on the road and part way in the ditch, with headlights on, radio barring and the keys were in the ignition. He also noticed an open can of beer in the center console. Depoe was passed out in the drivers seat.
A Montana Highway Patrol Trooper arrived on scene and awoke Depoe. The trooper noticed that Depoe smelled of an alcohol beverage and he scored six of six possible clues on the HGN test. Depoe refused to provide a breath sample. He was then arrested and transported to tribal law and order for further processing.
On the walk and turn test, Depoe scored six out of eight possible clues. On the one leg stand test, he swayed, raised his arms and put his food down more than three times and was unable to complete the test. Court records indicated that Depoe had at least three prior convictions of driving under the influence.
• Richard Dale Manolovits, 61, of Arlee, pleaded not guilty to felonies sexual abuse of children and assault on a minor. An omnibus hearing is set for Thursday, Jan. 13, 2010 at 9 a.m.
According to court records, the charges stem from an Oct. 17 incident when a Sheriff’s Deputy responded to a report of a potential child molestation case at a campground on Detwiler Road near Arlee. The Deputy met with a man who stated that a Manolovits, who was staying in a neighboring camper, had approached his daughter and discussed inappropriate sexual issues. The daughter also stated to the Deputy that Manolovits had approached her and when she became scared and tried to run, he grabbed her coat. She broke free and ran to her parents.
When the Deputy spoke with Manolovits, he admitted to initiating the conversation with the child, but said he did not talk about anything that was taught to her in school.
• Theresia Wittman Fox, 62, of Bigfork, pleaded not guilty to two counts of negligent vehicular assault, felonies and to two counts of negligent vehicular assault, misdemeanors. An omnibus hearing is set for Thursday, Nov. 3 at 9 a.m.
According to court records, the charges stem from a Sept. 18 incident, when a Montana Highway Patrol Trooper was dispatched to a two-vehicle crash in Woods Bay. He spoke to witnesses and examined physical evidence when he arrived on the scene. He then determined that a northbound vehicle driven by Fox, drifted over the center line toward southbound traffic. As an oncoming vehicle approached, she swerved back toward the fog line, over corrected, then swerved back across the northbound lane and into the southbound lane, striking the vehicle.
Fox admitted to the trooper in an interview that she had three beers at a restaurant in Kalispell. As she spoke, the trooper noticed she slurred her words, was unsteady on her feet, smelled of an alcoholic beverage and her eyes were bloodshot and glossy.
Fox’s poor performance on three field sobriety tests indicated to the trooper that she was under the influence of alcohol. Fox refused a breath test, and was then arrested.
During booking at the Lake County Jail, she refused to perform any sobriety maneuvers, refused a breath test and would not answer any questions about the crash.
Of the four passengers in the other vehicle, three suffered injuries. One suffered broken ribs and soft tissue injuries, another suffered a broken foot that required surgery to repair and the other suffered a broken pelvis, jaw, arm and eye socket in the crash which resulted in several days of intensive care.
• Angela Guardipe, 22, of Pablo, pleaded not guilty to felony assault with a weapon. An omnibus hearing is set for Thursday, Nov. 19 at 9 a.m. Bond was set in the amount of $5,000.
According to court records, the charge stems from an Oct. 19 incident when a Tribal Police Officer was dispatched to a residence in Pablo on a call of an assault with a weapon.
When the officer arrived, he noticed Guardipe was on the ground, being restrained by a woman by the name of Savonna Ryan who had a serious cut on her leg that was bleeding. An ambulance was called to the scene. A utility knife was found in the possession of Guardipe.
Ryan stated to the officer that Guardipe had been driving by her home earlier in the day, harassing her and had entered the home next door, who belonged to a relative of Guardipe.
Ryan’s boyfriend told Guardipe to leave her alone, but Guardipe started yelling at the boyfriend and said she was going to kill her. She then ran towards the boyfriend and started hitting him, at which point law enforcement responded to that earlier assault, diffused the situation and then left.
Ryan stated to the officer that some time later, Guardipe approached Ryan again and tried to cut her face with a knife, but Ryan pushed away the knife and cut her on the left shoulder. Ryan stated that she got Guardipe on the ground in an effort to keep her from hitting or stabbing her, but Guardipe was able to cut the front and back of the Ryan’s left leg. Ryan was transported to Ronan’s St. Luke Hospital where she required three stitches in the front of her leg, and seventeen stitches in the back of her leg.
The officer also interviewed Guardipe, who admitted to cutting the Ryan with the knife.

Justice Court

Justice of the Peace Chuck Wall addressed the following cases from Oct. 30 to Nov. 5:
• Virginia L. Lowney, 37, pleaded guilty to the amended offense of driving without a valid drivers license - expired less than 180 days, was found guilty, fined $250, charged $35 in court costs and sentenced to 180 days in jail with 178 days suspended. Since Lowney provided proof of a valid drivers license, jail time was waived.
• Virginia L. Lowney, 37, pleaded guilty to speeding, going 72 mph in a 55 mph zone, and to driving a motor vehicle while privilege to do so is suspended or revoked. She was found guilty of both offenses and for speeding, was fined $85 and for driving while privilege to do is suspended or revoked, was fined $350, charged $35 in court costs and sentenced to 180 days in jail with 175 days suspended. Since Lowney provided proof of a valid drivers license, jail time was reduced to two days.
• Merlyn James Snyder Jr., 28, pleaded not guilty to failure to carry proof of insurance in vehicle - second offense and to driving without a valid drivers license - expired less than 180 days.
He was found guilty of both offenses and for failure to carry proof of insurance, was fined $250, charged $35 in court costs and sentenced to 180 days in jail with 180 days suspended. For driving without a valid drivers license, he was fined $100, charged $35 in court cost and sentenced to 10 days in jail with 10 days suspended.
• Merlyn James Snyder Jr., 28, pleaded not guilty to failure to carry proof of insurance in vehicle - third offense and to driving without a valid drivers license - expired less than 180 days. He was found guilty of both offenses and for failure to carry proof of insurance, was fined $250, charged $35 in court costs and sentenced to 180 days in jail with 180 days suspended. For driving without a valid drivers license, he was fined $200, charged $35 in court cost and sentenced to 10 days in jail with 10 days suspended.
• Robert Charles Allen, 46, pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol - second offense. He was found guilty, fined $600, charged $85 in court costs and sentenced to 180 days in jail with 166 days suspended. Allen will receive credit for time served per the plea agreement.
• William Ray Hitchcock, 21, pleaded not guilty to possessing intoxicating substances while under the age of 21 - first offense. Hitchcock was under the age of 21 at the time of the incident. He was found guilty, fined $65 and charged $85 in court costs.
• Errol E. Gritten, 25, pleaded guilty to driving without a valid drivers license - expired less than 180 days. He was found guilty, fined $250 and charged $35 in court costs.
• William Thomas Leduc, 41, pleaded guilty to failure to carry proof in insurance - first offense. He was found guilty, fined $150 and charged $35 in court costs.
• Aaron G. Myers, 29, pleaded guilty to driving without a valid drivers license - expired more than 180 days, and to careless driving. He was found guilty of both offenses and for driving without a valid license, was fined $100, charged $35 and sentenced to 180 days with 180 days suspended. For the careless, he was fined $50 and charged $35 in court costs.
• Zachary Paul Robinson, 18, pleaded guilty to possessing intoxicating substances while under the age if 21 (over age 18) - second offense. He was found guilty, fined $200 and charged $85 in court costs.
• Robert Joseph Parot, Jr., 32, pleaded guilty to failure to carry proof of insurance in vehicle - second offense, driving under the influence of alcohol - second offense and to criminal possession of dangerous drugs - marijuana, less than 60 grams - first offense.
He was found guilty of all three offenses and for the failure to carry proof of insurance, he was fined $350, charged $35 and sentenced to 10 days in jail with eight days suspended. For driving under the influence, he was fined $600, charged $85 in court costs and sentenced to 180 days in jail with 166 days suspended and for the possession of dangerous drugs, fined $100 and charged $85 in court costs.
• Katie Grace Bryan, 18, pleaded guilty to possession of intoxicating substances while under the age of 21 - over age 18, first offense, was found guilty, fined $100 and charged $85 in court costs.

Polson City Court

Judge A. Douglas Olson dealt with the following cases from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6:
• Micah John Ashby, 31, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle without liability insurance in effect - first offense, was found guilty, fined $150 and charged $135 in court costs.
• Shane Coulter O’Berry, 21, forfeited his bond of $50 for speeding, going 49 mph in a 35 mph zone.
• Kayla Marie Meisenheimer, 22, forfeited her bond of $50 for speeding, going 54 mph in a 35 mph zone.
• Marvin Albert Ekstrom, 47, forfeited his bond of $50 for speeding, going 47 mph in a 35 mph zone.
• Peter R. Ramberg, 55, pleaded guilty to failure to carry proof or exhibit insurance in vehicle - first offense, was found guilty, fined $50 and charged $35 in court costs.

Ronan City Court

Judge Doug A. Olson dealt with the following cases from Oct. 24 to Nov. 5:
• Kathaleen W. Velasquez, 40, received a deferred sentence for speeding, going 37 mph in a 25 mph zone and was fined $40.
• Steven Richard Alverson, 54, received a deferred sentence for speeding, going 44 mph in a 25 mph zone, and was fined $40.
• George Evan Shryock, 61, received a deferred sentence for speeding in a 25 mph zone and was fined $40.

St. Ignatius City Court

(No court results reported this week.)

Marriages & Dissolutions

The following marriages and dissolutions took place in Lake County from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31:
Marriages
• Jennifer Marie Jacobs and Marc William Vert
• Rebecca D. Nickel and Milton L. Nickel
• Brittany Leanne Shaw and Craig David McGillivray
• Amanda Lynn Allen and Charles Cecil Baker
• Maria Angelica Lopez and Jeremy Raymond Gibson
• Cyndie Kay Smout and David John Lefebvre
• Shasta Danielle Baum and Randy Charles Strait
• Melissa Lynn Herschler and Michael Paul Schendel
Divorces
• Susan Leslie Smith and Leon Victor Smith
• Lisa Myers (Rice restored) and Kevin Myers
• Bernice Elverud (Boswell restored) and Travis Elverud
• Rachel Gilliland and Randy T. Reinlasoder
• Kimberly K. Shriner (Corrigan restored) and Sean A. Shriner
• Keena D. Campbell and Timothy E. Kovarik
• Noelle T. Goulet and Daniel L. Long
• Susana Galloway (Villanueva restored) and Christopher Galloway
• Sarah Wilkerson and Dan Wilkerson