High court affirms no-contact order violation

SANDPOINT - The Idaho Supreme Court is affirming a Hope man's conviction for violating a no-contact order in a felony domestic violence case.

Junior Larry Hillbroom was charged in 2012 with domestic violence resulting in traumatic injury and attempted strangulation. A judge entered an order forbidding him from contacting the alleged victim.

The alleged victim sought to dismiss the no-contact order prior to a preliminary hearing, but district Judge Jeff Brudie declined the motion. At the preliminary hearing, Judge Debra Heise agreed to modify the order to allow third-party contact.

However, Heise left the expiration date field blank on the modified order.

Brudie heard another motion to dismiss the no-contact order, but the request was denied. The day after the motion was heard, Hillbroom was cited for violating the order.

Counsel for Hillbroom moved to dismiss the misdemeanor charge, arguing that the no-contact order was invalid under an Idaho Criminal Rule and the state therefore could not prove an element of the crime.

The felony domestic violence case was dismissed upon a state's motion, but Hillbroom was ultimately convicted by a jury of violating the no-contact order.

Hillbroom appealed his conviction, but a district judge affirmed it. Hillbroom sought redress through the Idaho Court of Appeals, but it too affirmed his conviction.

Hillbroom appealed to the high court, which held that Heise did not comply with the criminal court rule. However, justices said the oversight did not require the court to vacate Hillbroom's conviction.

"In this case, the magistrate court clearly issued an order prohibiting Hillbroom from contacting the victim," Justice Warren E. Jones said in a six-page opinion issued on Wednesday.

Chief Justice Roger Burdick and justices Daniel Eismann, Jim Jones and Joel Horton concurred.