One prisoner who spoke to the Idaho newspaper said prosecutors retaliated. A judge has just made a decision

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – An Ada County judge has ruled against an Idaho prisoner who argued that prosecutors’ latest charge against him was retaliation for speaking to the Idaho Statesman.

Bobby Templin, a 34-year-old man incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south of Boise, said the new felony charge he faced two months after publishing a Statesman story was retaliation by the Prosecutors have been asking the judge to dismiss him the summons. Templin was featured in a Statesman article in October 2023 about his broken hand and his requests to seek medical attention, which went unanswered for several months.

Fourth Judicial District Judge Cynthia Yee-Wallace was not persuaded.

In a 28-page order, Yee-Wallace wrote that there was no evidence that the Ada County District Attorney’s Office engaged in a “vindictive prosecution.” The prosecution’s decision to charge Templin with a crime was not because he spoke to the Statesman about the medical care he received while incarcerated, she concluded.

“In short, the record before the court does not disclose any facts that would suggest a reasonable likelihood of vindictiveness on the part of the prosecutor in this case,” Yee-Wallace wrote. “The court therefore finds that the defendant has not established that the prosecutor engaged in a vindictive prosecution in this case, and Templin’s motion to dismiss is denied.”

In January 2023, Templin broke his thumb shortly after a fight broke out at the Idaho State Correctional Center. Templin told the Statesman it happened when correctional officers restrained him, while an IDOC report said he punched a wall after his arrest.

Records showed that the IDOC would not take Templin to a specialist for six months, despite Templin’s constant pleas for help. At that point, an expert said permanent damage was likely caused.

The Ada County District Attorney’s Office charged Templin with aggravated assault on a correctional officer in December 2023, two months after the story was published, which could keep him in prison for an additional five years if convicted. Templin has been under investigation by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office since the dispute in January 2023 over allegations that he struck a correctional officer.

But Templin’s lawyer called the timing suspect.

Mike French, a Boise-based attorney, filed a motion to dismiss the felony charge against Templin, arguing that her client suffered retaliation because he “dared to speak out against the ongoing medical neglect he suffered at the hands of the Department of Corrections.” Idaho suffered.” .

Prosecutors also filed a felony misdemeanor charge against Templin, which could add at least another five years to his sentence. The prosecution can bring charges once someone has been convicted of three crimes. Templin’s only other felony convictions include possession of a controlled substance and grand larceny.

“No evidence” of retaliation, says judge

When the brawl broke out at the Idaho Department of Correction’s Kuna Jail in January 2023, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office was assigned to lead the investigation. Ada County Detective Alex McCray investigated an allegation that Templin struck an IDOC officer in the neck and head that day. According to court documents, the officer had no injuries or required medical attention.

The IDOC identified a total of 13 men involved in the brawl. A Statesman review of court records revealed that Templin was the only person criminally charged in connection with the brawl.

Although he contacted the IDOC three times, McCray said in court that he did not receive the investigative materials related to Templin’s case until October 5, 2023. He said the delay is not unusual in IDOC cases. It was the same day a Statesman reporter emailed an IDOC spokesman requesting an interview about the agency’s medical practices.

A day after McCray received the files, IDOC chief investigator Nicole Fraser sent an email to McCray’s supervisor, Ada County Sgt. Bill Weires, asking for a timeline for when she would review the case, according to Yee-Wallace’s order wanted to complete.

“We have a news organization requesting information on this case,” Fraser wrote, later adding that she needed “this information” as soon as possible. The newspaper published the article a week later.

McCray said during a court hearing in August that he never felt pressure from IDOC or the sheriff’s office to refer the case to the district attorney’s office and that he treated this case no differently than any case he received from IDOC. He added that no one from IDOC suggested that Templin be prosecuted on the allegations and that no one from the district attorney’s office inquired about the case until McCray submitted it for review.

However, French said IDOC officials did not communicate with the sheriff’s office until they learned Templin was speaking to the Statesman.

Yee-Wallace said there was “no evidence” that the Ada County District Attorney’s Office had knowledge of those emails, adding that she did not “report to prosecutors in the Templin case the actions of the IDOC or the Sheriff’s Office.” would attribute or attribute”.

“Similarly, there is no evidence or evidence to support the prosecutor’s decision to charge Templin in this case,” Yee-Wallace wrote, based on Templin’s medical care.

Templin’s sentence ends in February but is expected to be released to the Ada County Jail if his new charges are not resolved by then.

Currently, Templin spends most of his day in a solitary cell at the state’s maximum security prison. His next hearing will be at 11 a.m. Dec. 10 at the Ada County Courthouse.