Last week the Court of Appeals confirmed the felony conviction of Michael Hazelmyer of Springdale. He was convicted in 2010 of one felony count of Harassment (Threats to kill) in a trial before Judge Nielson. The Court of Appeals also dismissed a Personal Restraint Petition which Hazelmyer had filed which had been consolidated with the appeal. The dispute between arose over an easement road by which Hazelmyer accessed his property.

Part of the evidence in the case was a recorded phone call to the WSP in which Hazelmyer said he was going to take his .303 out to resolve the dispute. Sgt Sinclair of the WSP called him back and he told Sinclair that he did own a British .303 and that he was going to “take him down” (referring to his neighbor). He made this statement several times. The neighbor testified he was afraid of Hazelmyer and took his threats seriously.

Hazelmyer brought several arguments to the Court of Appeals but the court did not find merit in any of them. The next step is for him to ask the Supreme Court for discretionary review. This is probably not over yet.

In many cases the appeal process can go on for years.

In other cases:

The First Degree Murder charge against Craig Cosby in the homicide death of his wife Susan has now been set for trial. The date is March 26. This case has been delayed in the Court of Appeals on pre-trial issues, but those have been resolved and the case will now go to trial.

The trial of Herb Friedlund on multiple charges related to his care of 106 year old Francis Swan of Kettle Falls is presently set for the April trial term, but issues in the case will probably result in the trial being continued.

Eric L Booth, 26 years old, has been found competent to stand trial in the murder of 63-year-old Gordon Feist of Colville. There are also pending murder charges against Collette Marie Pierce 25, and Jesse Fellman-Shimmin 27, in that case. The murder is alleged to stem from a botched robbery attempt.

Remember that persons charged are presumed innocent unless and until they are convicted or plead guilty. A charge is simply and accusation, not proof.