Itwas a quiet Monday morning in Judge Fred Gibler’s Judicial Court,as newly appointed Shoshone County Prosecutor Keisha Oxendineenjoyed her first Law Day in her new position.
Jamie Lee Hill came to court for a jurisdictional review in threeseparate cases. Hill was charged with various counts of theft,burglary, a probation violation and a weapons violation. Since hisincarceration, Hill was involved with numerous counseling programs,and has completed them all. Because he was such a model inmate,Oxendine had no qualms recommending that he be put on probation.His lawyer, Public Defender Lonnie Sparks, agreed, mentioning thatHill had been observed helping other inmates during classes.
Gibler agreed that Hill deserved leniency for his good behavior,citing his as “one of the better reports we’ve seen,” beforeplacing him on three years of supervised probation in each case —to run concurrently with one another.
Ryan Kendall Lewis was also sentenced by Judge Gibler for his rolein a June 2011 incident that found him charged with possession of acontrolled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia after heand his friends travelled to Seattle to purchase heroin. As part ofan agreement, Lewis had the second charge dropped, and he pleadguilty to possession of a controlled substance.
“Mr. Lewis has been in treatment, but quit due to financing. Itconcerns the state that he doesn’t believe he has a drug problem,when he has admitted to using them intravenously,” Oxendine said.“He does in fact have a drug problem that needs to beaddressed.”
Oxendine recommended retained jurisdiction, but Public DefenderMichael Peacock thought that probation was more appropriate,pointing out Lewis’ long-term employment, small criminal history,and lack of positive drug tests.
Ultimately, Judge Gibler believed that the 21 days Lewis spent injail already sent the right message, and sentenced him to asuspended three-year sentence and placing him on supervisedprobation for two years.
“Rehabilitation is the most important goal of sentencing in thiscase,” he said. “There is no doubt that a drug problem exists,heroin is not an entry level drug. Given the level of participationin this crime and the nature of the crime, probation isappropriate. If you are unable to address your drug problem, we’lllook at retaining jurisdiction.”
Finally, Mark Douglas Huber had a hearing to dispute the length ofhis sentence. Huber was convicted of rape and lewd conduct with achild under 16, and sentenced to a 30-year underlying sentence,with 10 years fixed and 20 indeterminate. Citing an error in theminimum length of his sentence, Oxendine sought to amend thesentence to an even split of the 30 years, with 15-years fixed, and15 indeterminate. Huber, “thought [he would] have a chance atleniency” from the judge.
“The proper fixed sentence is 15 years. We need to modify thepreviously imposed sentence,” Gibler said. “I’ve looked through theinformation and thought about [your request for leniency], and theoriginal sentence is appropriate, although you’re certainlyqualified for the time served.”