A Martin City man accused of shooting and killing another man will not stand trial until at least 2019.
Brian Smith, the attorney for James William Quen, filed an unopposed motion to continue the trial on Oct. 23. In the motion, Smith states that he needs additional time to prepare for trial. Smith recently took on the case after Quen’s previous attorneys, Alisha Backus and Greg Rapkoch, stepped away from the case because of a conflict of interest.
According to court documents, the “conflict is confidential in nature and cannot be disclosed.”
The earliest Quen could stand trial is January 2019.
According to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry and court documents, deputies responded to the scene of a shooting in Hungry Horse at about 11:40 p.m. on April 25. When they arrived they found 33-year-old Bradley Allen Winters dead from a single gunshot wound. The initial investigation revealed that there had been an altercation over money and clothing outside Winters’ home and at some point Quen reportedly took out a gun. Quen allegedly fired the gun multiple times, hitting Winters once in the chest.
Quen pleaded not guilty to a single charge of felony deliberate homicide in Flathead County District Court on May 31. Quen is expected to argue that he shot Winters in self-defense.