craigdailypress.com

James Lee

Craig resident James Lee, who has three ongoing assault cases against him in the Moffat County Combined Courts, appeared last week for a preliminary hearing on all charges.

Lee was arrested Aug. 30 at the home of Howard and Sharon Salman in the 400 block of West Sixth Street after Sharon made a 911 call to law enforcement claiming a man was at her door.

When Craig Police officers arrived, Sharon told them Lee punched out a screen window and assaulted her husband as Lee tried to pull him out onto the porch. Sharon said she grabbed a walking stick to try to fend Lee off, but Lee grabbed the stick and used it to continue beating her husband.

Lee is charged with first-degree assault, a Class 2 felony; two counts of second-degree assault, first-degree burglary and second-degree burglary, all Class 3 felonies; and third-degree assault, a Class 6 felony.

That case was moved to Moffat County District Court and scheduled for an arraignment at 2 p.m. Dec. 14.

Since his arrest and incarceration for reportedly assaulting the Salmans, Lee was charged with second-degree assault, a Class 4 felony, for reportedly beating another inmate at Moffat County Jail.

At Lee’s court appearance, however, Judge Sandra Gardner reduced his charge to third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, as a sanction against the 14th Judicial District Attorney’s Office because of missing evidence.

The information in question was a serious bodily injury report filled out by the physician who treated the inmate reportedly assaulted by Lee. The report states the inmate’s injuries may have included a fractured nose, but they were “not serious” and did not require immediate treatment.

Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Snow said his office had not been given the form before Lee’s appearance and never knew about it until it came up in court.

District Attorney’s Office staff met with law enforcement last week and are in the process of installing new procedures to prevent similar mistakes in the future, he added.

Snow said he does not plan to appeal the court’s sanction. The physician’s report makes it clear the injuries sustained only amount to third-degree assault, the same charge as the court required in its sanction.

“While I disagree with the court on legal grounds, in the end, we’re going to end up in the same place,” Snow said, adding that he wouldn’t have charged Lee with second-degree assault had he seen the physician’s report in the beginning.

In Lee’s third case, he faces another misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault for a bar fight that happened a few weeks before he reportedly assaulted the Salmans.

Both that case and the one involving Lee’s fellow inmate were continued to 3 p.m. Dec. 14 in Moffat County Court.

Tausha Merwin

Merwin appears in court

Tausha Merwin, who is charged in connection with a felony case against former Craig Police Detective Ken Johnson, had her case bound to district court Monday.

Merwin is charged with attempting to influence a public servant, a Class 4 felony, for reportedly lying to police officials about a reported sexual relationship between her and Johnson.

She is scheduled to appear at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 19 in district court.