OFFICIAL: Martinson tried in right county

I read the March 22 Coeur d’Alene Press article about Donald Gary and it would be appropriate to correct some basic misconceptions held by Mr. Gary.

As the Bonner County Prosecuting Attorney I was asked by Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh to prosecute the Sandy Martinson case. According to The Press article Mr. Gary believes that Ms. Martinson’s case was not tried in Kootenai County. It is a fundamental principle of criminal procedure that individuals are charged in the county in which the offense is alleged to have taken place, and Ms. Martinson was charged and convicted in Kootenai County.

The practice of referring cases to prosecutors in neighboring counties is a long-standing and effective way to avoid the appearance that criminal cases are being pursued, or not pursued, because of an improper motive. I refer cases to Mr. McHugh’s office and to other prosecutors when appropriate and, by way of example, I referred a Bonner County employee theft case to Mr. McHugh for prosecution not long before the Martinson case came to light.

Our practice is cost-effective as we prosecute those cases in the county in which the offense took place without charge. Our arrangement stands in contrast to the cost of paying private attorneys to handle conflict public defender cases. This is in contrast to referring matters to the Idaho Attorney General’s office, where local prosecutors pay travel expenses and incidental costs. For example, in the Darryl Kuehl murder case, Bonner County paid close to $70,000 to the state because of a conflict of a previous prosecutor.

While Mr. Gary questions the number of cases referred to other counties, every case referred to my office by Mr. McHugh was done so for an appropriate reason. He referred an inquiry by Rep. Kathy Sims regarding conflict of interest questions between the city of Coeur d’Alene and Lake City Development Corp. officials to my office, even though no conflict existed, at the request of Rep. Sims.

Referrals of this type should reassure Kootenai County residents that Mr. McHugh’s motivation in this area is to avoid concerns that his decisions are politically motivated.

LOUIS E. MARSHALL

Bonner County Prosecuting Attorney