Libby man faces 10 years for assault

A Libby man accused of severely beating a much older man is on track for sentencing later this summer after District Judge James Wheelis denied his request to withdraw his plea of no contest to felony charges of criminal endangerment.

Barton Howard had entered the plea on May 26 as his trial on charges of aggravated assault was set to commence. He was 28 years old at the time of the incident; the victim in the case, Jerome Wiherski, was 72.

According to a transcript of an audio recording made by a deputy from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Howard admitted to beating Wiherski and said he had done it because Wiherski had tried to kiss his girlfriend.

Deputy Brad Dodson had responded to a 911 call from Wiherski’s wife on March 31, 2014, reporting that her husband had just been attacked at their home off U.S. Highway 2 south of Libby. In an affidavit filed in support of the charges, Dodson reported that Wiherski had visible injuries to his face and abdomen, and blood on his face and clothes. He was later confirmed to have a broken nose, among other injuries.

Wiherski told Dodson that a man soon identified as Howard had come to his door, grabbed him and proceeded to attack him, giving him no chance to fight back. His wife told Dodson Howard was on top of her husband when he was on the ground, swinging at him with both hands. Wiherski said Howard had also kicked him in the abdomen while he was on the ground.

Over the course of a little over a year, Howard was represented by three different attorneys and at times represented himself, filing numerous documents on his own behalf including an unsuccessful argument that his recorded statement had been tampered with and claims that he was the victim of age discrimination and mistaken identity.

Howard had also attempted to have his statements to Dodson suppressed on the grounds that he had not been advised of his Miranda rights at the time he made them, but the court agreed with an argument from the county attorney’s office that Howard was not yet in custody at the time he made the statements and that his remarks had been spontaneous and unsolicited.

Howard was initially represented by Noel Larrivee from the state public defender’s office but in June 2014 retained a private attorney, Scott Hilderman. Hilderman withdrew as Howard’s counsel in January, and Howard represented himself until March, when he again requested a public defender and Timothy Baldwin was appointed.

Howard had requested that an attorney be appointed on the conditions that all filings in the case be sent directly to him and have his notarized signature before being filed, but those conditions were rejected by the public defender’s office.

Howard was scheduled to go to trial on April 14, but the date was moved to May 26 after he moved for a continuance. At a hearing on May 21, he told Wheelis he wanted to proceed with trial as his own attorney. After warning Howard of the hazards of self-representation, Wheelis agreed to his request but appointed Baldwin as a standby attorney who could step in if Howard changed his mind. He cautioned Howard, however, that if he chose to have Baldwin represent him during the trial he could not change his mind again.

At the start of his trial on May 26, Howard chose to be represented by Baldwin. A plea agreement was reached following jury selection and the trial was canceled. Howard agreed to plead no contest to an amended charge of criminal endangerment, with no recommendation on sentencing. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Aug. 3, with recommendations to be made in a pre-sentence investigation to be completed by a probation and parole officer.

Howard returned to court on June 1 and again requested to represent himself. A hearing on the matter was scheduled for the following week, and at the hearing Howard announced that he had changed his mind and wished to have Baldwin continue to represent him.

Howard appeared in court again on Monday, June 22, for a hearing on a motion to withdraw his plea. He told Wheelis he had not understood the ramifications of a no-contest plea and had not realized that the plea would result in a conviction that would be on his record.

He told the judge he had thought he “wouldn’t be found guilty or innocent, it would just be no contest.”

Wheelis told Howard they had gone over the details of the plea when it was entered, and that Howard had made his decision voluntarily, willingly and intelligently.

“I don’t believe you sir,” Wheelis told Howard. “I think you knew exactly what you were doing, so we’re going to proceed with sentencing.”

Wheelis told Howard he would see him again in court on Aug. 3.

Howard could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on the criminal endangerment charges. If he had been found guilty on the original charges of aggravated assault, Howard would have faced a maximum sentence of 20 years.