I-90 shootout plea deal reached
COEUR d'ALENE - Marcus Rael accepted a pretrial settlement in connection with allegations that he instigated a shootout with officers on Interstate 90 last year.
On Friday, the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office presented a judge with an amended set of charges that came as the result of mediation with the Arizona native's public defender. Rael, 25, was charged with 10 felony counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and pleaded guilty to four of the counts.
He submitted an Alford plea - a plea where the defendant maintains their innocence but admits that the state has enough evidence for a conviction - to the remaining six counts.
Each count of aggravated assault carries a punishment of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
In addition to the counts of aggravated assault, Rael pleaded guilty to using a firearm during the incident. The weapons enhancement charge increases his maximum sentence by 15 years.
Rael was initially charged with 12 counts of assault with the intent to commit a serious felony, each carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Additional details on the settlement, such as Rael's eligibility for parole, were not available because the agreement is still being reviewed.
Rael is accused of starting a gunbattle with police on Interstate 90 on June 22, 2014. The Glendale, Ariz., native allegedly refused to stop when Coeur d'Alene police officers attempted to pull him over, suspecting that he was driving under the influence.
The subsequent pursuit ended in Post Falls, when Rael allegedly crashed his Nissan Titan truck near a police roadblock. According to Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, whose office investigated the incident, Rael took up a position between his truck and a barrier on the interstate and began firing two assault weapons at responding officers.
In the ensuing gunbattle, six Coeur d'Alene police officers, three Post Falls police officers, two Kootenai County Sheriff's deputies and an Idaho State Police trooper exchanged gunfire with Rael.
No officers were injured in the shootout. Rael was shot and injured.
Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall, who reviewed the results of Wheeler's investigation, announced in January that the use of force by the involved officers was justified.
"An analysis under Idaho's justifiable homicide statute results in the conclusion that the officers' actions were justified," Marshall wrote. "All shots were fired at Rael to stop the threat he was posing by firing on officers. All shots were reasonably necessary to overcome Rael's resistance to his arrest and officers' lawful commands to surrender himself."
Rael is scheduled to be sentenced in Kootenai County District Court by Judge Fred Gibler on Nov. 10.