Courts
For killing his passenger in a drunk-driving crash, a Ronan man has accepted a plea agreement that could result in a 15-year sentence to the Montana Department of Corrections with half of that time suspended. Brayden A’twen Cutfinger, 21, pleaded guilty at District Court in Polson on April 2 to the amended charges of negligent homicide and criminal endangerment. The guilty plea includes the joint recommendation of 10 years at the DOC with five years suspended for negligent homicide and five years, two-and-a-half years suspended, for criminal endangerment. According to court records, on May 8, 2019, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Zach Miller was called out to a fatal car wreck on...
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 a...
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...
