Documents filed with the court allege that early last September, an elderly woman came to a bank teller in Deer Park to withdraw $200 in cash. There was a man with her and the teller noticed her face was terribly bruised. When the man stepped away for a moment, the woman asked the teller to call 911. Stevens County Sheriff’s deputies responded and then detained the man and called for medical assistance for the woman. She was transported to the hospital and the man was eventually arrested that day.

As a result of the investigation, charges have been filed against Kurtis Ray Kinney, DOB 1/14/83. He has been charged with 5 crimes, including Kidnapping in First Degree, Robbery in First Degree, Assault in Second Degree and two felony drug possession charges. The court found probable cause for the charges, a bond was established and he has been held in Stevens County Jail since. Deputy Prosecutor Lech Radzimski is assigned to this case. A trial date has been set for early this spring.

As a result of an unusual situation, misdemeanor charges have been filed against three persons alleging that they disrupted a District Court session not long ago. Court documents allege that they refused to comply when the judge ordered them to stop disrupting the court proceeding and refused to leave when the judge ordered them to. A Sheriff’s detective who was in the courtroom took them into custody, ending the disruption. They have been charged with crimes of Interference with Court Process, Criminal Contempt of Court and Trespassing. Lawyers have been assigned to the defendants. Deputy Prosecutor Jess Taylor is representing the state in these cases.

In another unusual aspect of this is that the three have been charged in Superior Court even though these are Misdemeanor and gross Misdemeanor charges. Usually only felony charges are brought in Superior Court even though the Superior Court has jurisdiction over all criminal charges: felony and misdemeanor. The District Court is limited to Misdemeanor and gross Misdemeanor charges only.

It is important to remember that just because charges have been filed against a person does not mean that person is guilty. Under our system, an accused person is presumed to be innocent until and unless the person either pleads guilty or is found guilty in court. That is the way our system works.