Page 15 - Flathead Beacon // 7.29.15

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Afortunate driver walked away without injury last week in Kalispell after crashing into a logging truck on U.S. High- way 93 near Rocky Cliff Drive.
“Today was his lucky day,” Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Bob Hensley said.
The driver pulled out of Rocky Cliff Drive onto the highway without seeing the large truck hauling logs traveling north- bound. The car struck the cab of the truck, causing the truck
and its trailer to roll over onto the car. Logs sprayed across the road and into the ditch, and the northbound lanes were closed for two-and-a-half hours. The front of the car was completely crushed, but both drivers escaped injury.
“He didn’t see the truck,” Hensley said of the driver of the car. “But there were no injuries. I’ve seen a lot worse from a lot
COURT BRIEFS
Kalispell Man Accused of Fathering Child with Minor
A 28-year-old Kalispell man has been accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl.
Rudy Chandler was arrested on July 21 and charged with sexual intercourse without consent. He will be arraigned in Flathead County District Court on Aug. 20.
According to court documents, Chan- dler was engaged to the minor’s care- giver. Chandler allegedly had sex with the minor in July 2014 and she became pregnant. The sexual assault was first reported to the police in February, when the girl was 33 weeks pregnant. Soon after, authorities collected a DNA sam- ple from Chandler.
On April 6, the girl gave birth to the child and additional DNA samples were collected. The samples were sent to the Montana State Crime lab that ruled Chandler could be the father. On July 8, during an interview with police, Chan- dler allegedly admitted that he had sex with the minor.
Chandler is being held on $50,000
bail. If convicted, Chandler could be sent to prison for 100 years and face a fine of $50,000.
Man Gets Deferred Sentence in Bus Crash That Injured 3
POLSON — A district judge has given a 19-year-old Bigfork man a deferred sen- tence of six years for rear-ending a school bus that had stopped to drop off students.
Daniel Fellows was also sentenced on July 22 to six months in jail with all but 10 days suspended in connection with the May incident.
He pleaded guilty in June to crimi- nal endangerment and drunk-driving charges and received the sentence as part of a plea agreement.
Fellows said previously he was driving about 80 mph when his pickup slammed into the bus near Polson. His blood-alco- hol content was .122.
Three students were treated at a hos- pital for minor injuries. The bus was totaled.
KERR-AM reports a parent of two boys on the bus asked and that Fellows agreed to also complete 100 hours of
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less.”
Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon
community service.
Fellows apologized in court.
Montana Lethal Injection Challenge Set for Trial
A seven-year legal battle over Mon- tana’s execution methods has been sched- uled for trial later this summer.
But before that happens, attorneys representing the state and Montana’s two death row inmates will have one last chance to convince a Helena judge to decide the case without a jury.
Ronald Allen Smith and William Gollehon are challenging the constitu- tionality of the state’s lethal injection protocols. District Judge Jeffrey Sher- lock will hear arguments by the inmates’ attorneys and the state on Aug. 26.
Medical witnesses will testify on whether the state’s use of the sedative pentobarbital in executions risks undue pain and suffering.
Sherlock could rule on the case based on that hearing or decide it is necessary to hold a full trial on Sept. 2.
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JULY 29, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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