Libby felon denied in effort to have bail lowered

A Libby man’s bid for freedom was denied following a recent hearing in Lincoln County District Court.

Erik Lynn McQueen, 40, who has multiple prior convictions for assault and is facing another charge after he allegedly punched his girlfriend in the face, sought a reduction in the $75,000 bail he is being held on.

McQueen was returned to the Lincoln County Detention Center recently following a Nov. 26 incident at a location on Mineral Avenue.

He is facing a charge of felony partner or family member assault, third offense, as well as a petition to revoke his probation for convictions earlier this fall on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.

McQueen pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on the charge Dec. 9. He sought a bail reduction and District Judge Matt Cuffe heard arguments Dec. 10 on the matter. Cuffe’s Dec. 11 order denied the reduction, citing, among other things, “His testimony was disjointed and contradictory.”

At the Dec. 10 hearing, McQueen said he, “was a productive member of society and was supposed to be doing drywall work at multiple locations in Libby.”

According to the county court calendar, McQueen was going to enter a plea to the most recent case Jan. 3, but the hearing was vacated because he was "not prepared to change it," court documents said.

McQueen also testified at the Dec. 9 hearing that he was scheduled to have surgery Dec. 17 surgery at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center for a torn rotator cuff and a torn bicep muscle.

McQueen said if was granted a lower bail, he had no intention of running from future court obligations.

“I’ve done my time, I’ve done counseling, I check in twice a day for alcohol testing and with the probation officer,” he said.

But in her argument against McQueen’s bail request, county Attorney Marcia Boris pointed out a number of events that seemed to contradict McQueen’s statements.

“He had two failures to appear in 2017, three in 2019, two in 2023, one in March 2024 and one in May 2024,” Boris said. “He has three convictions for resisting arrest, a conviction for escape, five obstruction convictions and 13 arrests for probation and parole violations.

“Further, you are accused of assaulting the same victim from the incident earlier this year,” Boris said.

State Probation and Parole Officer Vanessa Williamson said McQueen has no consistent cell phone number or address. She testified McQueen has been difficult to supervise and he’s violated no contact orders in the past.

“I have concerns for the safety of the victim,” Williamson said.

Boris offered his criminal history to Cuffe and a flash drive with phone calls from McQueen’s jail cellmate to the alleged victim.

Scott B. Johnson is representing McQueen and argued the $75,000 bond is excessive.

“It sounds like surgery would delay his ability to work and missing it would further complicate his ability to work. There’s more than just his liberty at stake,” Johnson said.

Boris said there is no documentation of his surgery.

“It’s not difficult to obtain and I’ve had the information given to me in the past when defendants are having surgery,” she said. “The state has grave concerns about him and believes he’s a danger to the victim, law enforcement and the public.”

A hearing on the petition to revoke was heard Dec. 16 and McQueen made no admissions. 

Deputy County Attorney Lauren O’Neill said the state would prefer to have 30 days to prepare for the petition to revoke while Johnson said, “we’d prefer it to be sooner.”

The court calendar indicates the adjudication hearing on the revocation will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5.

In the most recent incident, McQueen is accused of assaulting a woman at 1:49 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 920 Mineral Avenue.

According to the narrative by Libby police officer Seth Power, a woman called 911 and said McQueen punched her in the face. When Power met with the alleged victim, he reported her nose was bleeding and the area around her mouth and nose was swollen and red.

The woman said McQueen hit her in the face while they argued in a car.

McQueen was convicted and sentenced on Sept. 23 of two misdemeanors, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.  

District Judge Matt Cuffe sentenced McQueen to 10 days in the county jail on the disorderly conduct charge and six months, with all but 20 days, suspended for the mischief conviction. They were to be served consecutively. 

McQueen also had troubles related to him for allegedly not wearing a monitoring bracelet in September. According to court documents, McQueen walked into the office of Compliance Monitoring in Kalispell on Sept. 6 and cut off a SCRAM monitoring bracelet.

He reportedly said he, “couldn’t do it anymore” before leaving the office. Staff called county probation officer Vanessa Williamson to report the incident and she applied for a bench warrant for his arrest. He was taken into custody Sept. 18.

At his Sept. 23 sentencing, McQueen’s public defender, Ben Kolter, sought the dismissal of a no contact order between the defendant and the victim.

McQueen said he sought anger management counseling in Kalispell and appreciated the consideration of the court.

McQueen originally faced a felony charge of partner or family member assault as well as criminal mischief following an incident last month at a Frazey Loop residence.

According to a probable cause statement by county deputy Derek Breiland, he was called to the Southside Casino at about 6:47 p.m. Aug. 1. There he spoke to a 44-year-old woman who said McQueen got mad, jumped on the hood of her car and kicked in the windshield at 215 Frazey Loop. She told Breiland she drove to the casino to get away from McQueen. She also said she and the accused had dated for two years.

Breiland reported the windshield was completely shattered with glass all over the vehicle’s interior, leaving it inoperable. The officer said shoe prints on the hood matched McQueen’s and the shoes were covered in blood.

The alleged victim said McQueen got mad because she asked one of his friends to look at her vehicle. When deputy Breiland spoke to McQueen, he saw fresh cuts and blood on his legs. McQueen did not speak to the officer at the time and was arrested.

After arriving at the county jail, McQueen told the officer the alleged victim was not being truthful and she asked him to remove the windshield because it was already partially broken. Breiland reported the windshield left the vehicle in a condition that it couldn’t be driven and glass was shattered inside the car. 

He also reported an overwhelming odor of alcohol coming from McQueen during their conversation. Breiland asked McQueen to give a breath sample, which he allegedly refused.

Breiland also reported McQueen had two partner or family member assault convictions in 2006 and 2012 and criminal mischief convictions in 2006 and 2011.

According to a 2011 Daily Inter Lake story, McQueen was arrested for allegedly kicking in the door of a neighbor’s apartment and demanding the residents turn their television’s volume down.

According to court documents, Kalispell Police Department officers responded to Glenwood Drive after a report of a burglary. When they arrived, three men told them that McQueen, their neighbor, had kicked in the front door of their apartment and threatened to beat them up “if they did not turn down the volume of their television.”

Two of the men picked up shotguns and McQueen left the apartment, according to court documents.

McQueen allegedly refused to come to the door when officers attempted to contact him. After being granted a warrant, officers entered the residence and took him into custody “after being forced to Tase him several times because he refused to comply with arrest instructions,” according to court documents.

As he was being lifted from the floor, he allegedly spit in the face of one of the officers.

According to court documents, McQueen pleaded guilty to three amended offenses, including criminal mischief, assault and assault with bodily fluids. He received partially suspended sentences for those convictions.

McQueen faced criminal charges in Lincoln County 20 years ago.

Court documents indicate McQueen was charged with rape in 2004 in Lincoln County following an incident with a 12-year-old girl.

A plea deal reduced the charges to misdemeanor sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Charging documents indicate McQueen, 20 years old at the time, gave the girl hard liquor then had sex with her. She allegedly told him she was 16 years old. McQueen ended up pleading guilty in December 2004 to misdemeanor sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He received two 6-month suspended sentences and credit for serving 193 days in the county jail.

In March 2005, the county attorney’s office filed a petition to revoke the sentence after he was accused of assaulting two men, including his brother, between Jan. 29 and Feb. 22. McQueen ended up serving 10 days in the county jail.

In Nov. 3, 2005, McQueen faced new charges of assaulting a woman and kicking her car. He pleaded guilty to the offenses and received a 3-year deferred sentence on a felony criminal mischief charge and a 1-year suspended sentence for partner or family member assault. He served 93 days in the county jail before being released.

In 2006, McQueen was arrested for assault, escape and resisting arrest. He was accused of not making restitution payments, not completing treatment at a state facility in Butte as well as at Flathead Valley Chemical Dependency. 

McQueen was eventually released from the Treasure State Correctional Training Center in August 2007.

In October 2012, McQueen was arrested at the Sandman Hotel for partner or family member assault. He pleaded guilty and received a 1-year deferred sentence in February 2013.