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Show ublic Safety Briefs $100K bail for accused shooter A judge has set bail at $100,000 for a Myton man accused ac-cused of leveling a shotgun at his neighbor and firing at least three rounds at the man's truck. Several family members of Daniel W. Felter sat in court last Tuesday to show their support for the 39-year-old charged with attempted murder, discharging a firearm near a highway, criminal mischief and tampering with evidence. evi-dence. The charges, all felonies, stem from a Jan. 5 incident at Felter's home. Defense attorney Mark N. Brian told 8th District Court Judge A. Lynn Payne that Felter Fel-ter had recently discovered an extramarital affair between his wife and the alleged victim. He said when the encounter took place between the two men Felter believed he was acting in self-defense because the other man "always carries a gun in his truck." According to Duchesne County Coun-ty sheriffs investigators, Felter flagged down his neighbor as the man drove by. Felter then ducked inside his home and returned with a shotgun, deputies said, pointing it at the 26-year-old man and firing between three and five rounds. Duchesne Deputy County Attorney Grant Charles said Felter had known about his wife's affair with the neighbor for at least a week before the shooting. Charles, said Felter told his wife he would kill the alleged victim if given the chance. "Goingthroughthediscovery I don't see a single act of aggression aggres-sion on the part of the victim," Charles told Payne, adding that Felter failed to comply with officers' offi-cers' orders when he was arrested and tried to conceal evidence of the crime. After hearing from the attorneys, at-torneys, Payne agreed to raise Felter's bail from $50,000 to $100,000. The judge also agreed to let Felter 's family use personal property to post the bail, so long as it met court-ordered guidelines. guide-lines. A preliminary hearing is set for March 3. Insurance agent pleads to fraud Independent insurance agent Maria Hall pleaded guilty Wednesday in 8th District Court in Vernal to felony counts of filing a false or fraudulent insurance claim and forgery. According to court records, Hall backdated a policy for Devin J. MacKay after his truck was stolen sto-len in Salt Lake City in February 2006. MacKay only had liability insurance on the vehicle, but had Hall change his policy to reflect that he had full coverage at the time the truck was stolen. MacKay pleaded guilty in October to filing a false or fraudulent insurance claim and agreed to testify against Hall in exchange for the dismissal of two additional felony counts. He was sentenced to serve three years probation, pay $2,000 in investigative costs, and a $1,500 fine. In a deal reached with the GRAND JUNCTION VISITOR & CONVENTION BUREAU J Utah Attorney General's Office and the state Department of Insurance, Hall agreed to pay $3,500 in investigative costs and forfeit her insurance license. Prosecutors dismissed charges charg-es of communications fraud and conspiracy against the 67-year-old Hall, in exchange for her plea. The state also agreed that it would not oppose a motion by Hall's attorney to have the severity of her charges reduced if she successfully completes probation. Defense attorney Loni De-Land De-Land said his client wanted to be sentenced immediately, but 8th District Court Judge A. Lynn Payne ordered Hall to submit to a presentence investigation by Adult Probation and Parole. A sentencing hearingis scheduled sched-uled for March 19; however, Hall filed a letter with the court on Friday seeking to withdraw her guilty plea. A copy of that letter was not available at press time. Ruling appealed in McBride case The February jury trial for accused rapist Patrick Henry McBride has been postponed to allow his attorney to appeal a ruling by 8th District Court Judge John R. Anderson. McBride is charged with rape, forcible sodomy, and two counts of forcible sex abuse. Prosecutors claim he had sex with a 17-year-old girl in his Roosevelt home on May 18, against the girl's will. Anderson ruled at a preliminary pre-liminary hearing in August that probable cause existed to bind McBride over for trial on the charges, despite testimony from the alleged victim that she "froze" when McBride made sexual advances toward her and never said no during the alleged rape. Defense attorney Ken Brown made an attempt to have Anderson Ander-son reconsider his bind over ruling. rul-ing. But after listening to argument argu-ment from Brown and Duchesne Deputy County Attorney Grant Charles in November, Anderson denied the defense motion. Brown asked Anderson to reconsider his decision a second time in December, and the judge refused. Brown .has argued that the state, failed to provide any1 evidence evi-dence at the preliminary hearing that McBride had sex with the 17-year-old girl he's accused of raping without the girl's consent. While Charles told the court at the November hearing that although al-though the girl never said "no" to McBride, the 51-year-old Roosevelt Roos-evelt man enjoyed a position of trust with her which alio wed him to exercise undue influence. The Utah Court of Appeals has agreed to a request by McBride's attorneys earlier this month to review Anderson's decision. The nature of McBride's appeal would prevent his case from going to trial until a ruling is issued, prompting Anderson to continue the trail last week. A date when the Utah Court of Appeals will consider the case has not been set. McBride remains w 1 YOU'LL LOVE GRAND JUNCTION IN FEBRUARY February is the month of love and we're celebrating with a month-long extravaganza showcasing our fine cuisine, confectionery delights, art exhibits, theatre productions, music and more. For romance and excitement, the restaurants, shopping, cultural activities and vineyards of Colorado's Wine Country are truly top-shelf. For a complete list of sweet deals and events log on to visitgrandjunction.com Vernal free on bond. Heroin defendant enters guilty plea One of two men arrested with heroin in a Mountain Home church parking lot in November pleaded guilty last Tuesday. Tyler Louis Roberts, 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony possession of a controlled substance. The plea is being held in abeyance for three years, under un-der the terms of an agreement with prosecutors, who also dismissed dis-missed a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia against Roberts. Defense attorney David Stewart told 8th District Court Judge A. Lynn Payne that Roberts Rob-erts has faithfully submitted to courtordered drug testing since his arrest and to random drug screenings by his employer. None of the tests showed that Roberts had used drugs. Payne said the court-ordered testing will continue for another six months. When questioned by Payne about the heroin, Roberts said he had not used the drug, but admitted admit-ted that he was in the car where the drugs were found. Duchesne County Attorney Stephen Foote told Payne that Roberts told the arresting officer that the driver of the car, 21-year-old Matthew Lucas Mecham, gave him the heroin and then changed his story and admitted to buying the drugs from Mecham. Mecham was due in court last Tuesday as well for a preliminary hearing on drug and drug paraphernalia para-phernalia possession charges. Duchesne County sheriff s deputies depu-ties said they found 33 balloons of heroin in the car Mecham and Roberts were sitting in in the parking lot of the Mountain Home LDS church on Nov. 21. Mecham's defense attorney, Roland Uresk, told that court that his client is currently enrolled in an in-patient drug treatment program outside the Uintah Basin. Uresk asked for the case to be continued until Feb. 4, and said Mecham may sign a waiver of his preliminary hearing. As part of his deal with prosecutors, pros-ecutors, Roberts was ordered to pay a $1,000 plea in abeyance fee. He is also required to testify -against Mecham if the case goes to trial. Own Your Home For Less Than Rent First Time Buyer Limited Credit Special Government Program Call now for qualification and staii owning your home! Clayton Homes 3768 So Redwood Rd West Valley Utah Fax: 801-975-7782 Phone: 801-975-7781 Express Lawmakers county, city SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A proposed bill to make county and municipal court judges full-time state employees and require they have a college education is getting get-ting support from Utah's Chief Justice. Justice Christine M. Durham urged lawmakers last Monday to support legislation by Sen. Lyle Hillyard to make changes in Utah's county and municipal courts. In her State of the Judiciary Local man killed in A man was killed in an early morning crash Saturday on U.S. 40 west of Duchesne. The Utah Highway Patrol said LuisPena, 23, of Bridgeland died at the scene shortly after his pickup truck collided with a tractor-trailer truck at about 7:30 a.m. UHP trooper Luke Stradinger said it appears that uWeitet Stoc Jkqg'm: $ laser Hair Removal o Vein Therapy for spider veins oSkin Rejuvenation for fine lines & wrinkles c9 r Ji BASIN CLINIC ELK RESOURCES AND VERITAS WILL BE CONDUCTING A 3D SEISMIC PROJECT IN THE PELICAN LAKE AREA FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, (FEBRUARY 1 - MARCH 1 ). PLEASE SCGGVERITAS Veritas Vernal Office 435 Wednesday, could overhaul justice courts address, Durham told lawmakers that justice courts should not remain in the control of county or city governments and that they should not be used as revenue rev-enue generators. She told a joint session of the Legislature that justice courts arefacingaserious public perception problem. Justice courts took in more than $72 million in fines and fees last year and many people told court officials they believed the courts were more concerned Pena fell asleep at the wheel and drifted into the path of the truck, driven by 22-year-old Justin Stroud of Duchesne. "Luis sideswiped Justin on the driver's side of the rig," Stradinger said. "Justin ran off the road to the right and came to a stop." It took emergency crews Vafaitiiijb i Day Special 25 OFF Gift CeMficateA 379 North 500 West Suite 1 A, Vernal 789-1165 AUTHORIZED BY BLM PERMIT UT-0809-2006437 EQUIPMENT Vernal BLM 435 - A5 with making money than being fair and impartial. Durham says Hillyard's bill would improve the perception of justice courts as a place for fair dispute resolution, rather than simply revenue generators for city and county governments. The Utah Association of Counties and the Utah League of Cities and Towns have said they will lobby against the bill in favor of local control. collision several hours to cut Pena's body from his pickup. Stroud was not injured despite heavy damage to his truck. An inspection of Stroud's truckby troopers found no equipment equip-ment problems that would have contributed to the crash. rSJ - 789 - 1801 781 - 4400 January 30, 2008 NOT |