Peterson arrested on assault charge
Abigail Geiger
Reporter
Tracee Peterson, a Troy resident, was arrested on Aug. 2 on a partner family member assault charge.
Peterson, 38, was released the next day and pleaded not guilty to the partner or family member assault charge. She will have an omnibus hearing in September to determine the future of a trial for the assault charge.
The arrest comes close to a year after Joshua Junior Peterson, Tracee’s husband, assaulted her with a baseball bat to the head in September 2013 with a brutality that left her barely clinging to life.
After beating Tracee, Joshua called her mother, Trish Hanson, and confessed to the beating. Trish and her husband, Ed Hanson, called 911 and rushed out the door to the nearby house where Tracee lay. Trish and Gloria Hanson, Tracee’s aunt, said Tracee was almost unrecognizable due to the swelling and the severity of the beating when she was admitted to the hospital.
After recovering in Kalispell Regional Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Wash., Tracee returned to her family in Troy in mid-November 2013.
Josh pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in May 2014. District Court Judge James Wheelis sentenced Josh to 30 years in prison without the chance of parole, and in doing so, exceeded the recommended sentence of 25 years in prison with seven years suspended presented by Lincoln County Attorney Bernie Cassidy. Josh originally faced charges of attempted deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and aggravated assault.
According to previous Western News reporting, the couple has a history of domestic dispute. In 2003, Joshua Peterson was charged with felonious criminal endangerment and misdemeanor partner-family member assault.
A December 2003 plea agreement led to the felony charge being dismissed without prejudice. But Peterson was found guilty of misdemeanor partner-family assault.
In reference to the Aug. 2 arrest of Traceee Peterson, court documents state that a minor was the victim of the alleged assault. Due to the nature of the charge, documents reveal a verbal and physical altercation that happened between Tracee and one of her children.
Officer Christopher Pape arrested Tracee for the assault charge, considering her the primary aggressor after listening to various statements and seeing signs of injury on the assaulted minor.
Troy City Judge Terrie Lenhart said that due to the sensitive nature of both the violent history in Tracee’s life and the new assault charge, no preconceived notions of the situation should be made prior to trial.
“Tracee is innocent until proven guilty by the court,” Lenhart said. “It is important for all of us to remember that.”
Tracee’s omnibus hearing for the assault charge will be held on Sept. 16 at the Troy City Court.