Idaho
Jury convicts security company owner in split verdict over tumultuous town hall meeting
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A man convicted of battering two people at a turbulent legislative town hall was found not guilty on a count that related a woman who was seen being dragged out in a video that went viral.
The Kootenai County jury returned the split verdict against Paul Trouette on Thursday, finding him guilty of violating rules about security guard uniforms and of two counts of misdemeanor battery for his actions against two people who objected when they saw the woman being dragged out. He was found not guilty of four other charges, including battery and false imprisonment, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported.
The chaos at the February meeting in Coeur d’Alene that drew widespread attention was footage of Teresa Borrenpohl, a Democratic legislative candidate who was pulled from the audience after heckling the speakers. The video showed Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris telling Borrenpohl to leave, and then stepping back and recording on his cellphone as multiple unidentified men approached, grabbed her and dragged her out of the meeting. The men were security officers with LEAR Asset Management, but were not wearing any identification or uniforms, and witnesses said they repeatedly refused to identify themselves.
The Idaho Attorney General’s office declined to bring any charges against the sheriff, but the Coeur d’Alene city prosecutor’s office filed misdemeanor charges against Trouette, who owns the security company.
Charges were also initially filed against the other security guards but they were later dropped.
The mixed verdict came after almost eight hours of deliberation, following a three-day trial.
“Justice was done,” the city’s chief deputy prosecutor Ryan Hunter said.
Trouette declined to comment on Friday.
The town hall was organized by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, and hundreds of people from the deeply Republican region attended the event. People in the audience sometimes cheered or shouted words of agreement with the lawmakers speaking at the event, while others — including Borrenpohl — voiced their opposition.
Defense counsel for Trouette told jurors that he was acting at the sheriff’s behest and so did not commit any crimes. In Idaho, sheriffs have the authority to command citizens to aid them in the execution of their duties. But prosecutors contended that this immunity did not apply to Trouette because Norris gave him no specific commands to remove or detain anyone.
The men hauled Borrenpohl from her seat and wrestled her to the ground. One sat on top of her, while another knelt on her back. She said they twisted her limbs and pulled her hair.
“It was incredibly painful,” she testified this week. “I was just trying to keep my airway open.”
Borrenpohl later filed a tort claim against Kootenai County alleging that her constitutional rights were violated by both the security team and Norris. Government entities typically have 90 days to respond to tort claims in Idaho, and if they do not, the person who filed it may be able to file a lawsuit. Borrenpohl’s attorney Wendy Olson said in November that the county had not yet responded to the tort claim. She couldn’t be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
Montana
Former State Senate president charged with official misconduct over no-bid contract
Former Republican state Senate President Jason Ellsworth will be charged with misdemeanor official misconduct for allegedly attempting to award $171,100 worth of government work to a longtime friend and business partner, the state Department of Justice said.
Attorneys for the Department of Justice announced the charge against the legislator from Hamilton on Thursday and requested that the court suspend Ellsworth from serving until judgment is issued. Because Ellsworth is facing term limits that prevent him from running for re-election next year and doesn’t serve on an interim committee, the suspension without pay would have a minimal effect on the final year of his term, when the Legislature isn’t scheduled to meet. Ellsworth’s Senate peers in April banned him from the Senate floor for life and from committees for ethics violations related to the contract issue.
Official misconduct is a misdemeanor with a possible maximum sentence of up to six months in jail. Ellsworth could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon. He has previously denied wrongdoing.
Ellsworth served as Senate president in 2023 but in November 2024 his fellow senators elected Kalispell Republican Sen. Matt Regier over him for the 2025 session, which began in early January.
According to the charging documents the DOJ filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court on Thursday, Regier told investigators he learned in early January that Ellsworth had contracted with a friend to track proposed laws related to Republicans’ long-running efforts to address alleged bias in the state court system.
A March ethics investigation by the Senate revealed that Regier and legislative aide Rhonda Knudsen then submitted a tip to the government fraud hotline run by the state’s Legislative auditor.
Rhonda Knudsen is the mother of state Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who leads the DOJ.
The Legislative Audit Division concluded in January that Ellsworth attempted to split the work awarded to Bryce Eggleston, a former employee of Ellsworth’s magazine subscription business, into two contracts to avoid a $100,000 threshold that would have required the work to go out for bid. The combined value of the two contracts was $170,100. In January, before the investigation into Ellsworth concluded, Eggleston declined the work.
The Senate voted 44 to 6 to censure Ellsworth in April. It voted separately in February to refer a criminal investigation to the Department of Justice.
In a Thursday press release, Regier noted that Republican leadership tried three times to expel Ellsworth from the Senate outright but couldn’t muster the necessary two-thirds majority to do so. Nine Republicans joined Democrats in voting against expulsion in March.
“I applaud Attorney General Austin Knudsen for taking corruption in government seriously,” Regier said in his statement.
Michigan
Court orders competency evaluation of Utica man alleged to have killed his estranged wife
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido announced last week that a Utica man, charged with First-Degree Premeditated Murder related to a stabbing that occurred at a Meijer gas station in Shelby Township, MI, was referred by the court for a competency evaluation.
On Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, 25-year-old Sidney Emmanuel Davis, Jr., of Utica, MI, appeared before Judge Stephen S. Sierawski at the 41A District Court in Shelby Township for a Probable Cause Conference. The court referred Davis to the Center for Forensic Psychiatry for an evaluation regarding his competency to stand trial and scheduled a Review Hearing for Jan. 29, 2026, at 1 p.m.
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido stated, “The court ordered a psychiatric evaluation of the defendant to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. The law requires this determination before the case may proceed, to ensure the proceedings are valid and sustainable. Establishing competency allows the case to move forward with certainty and finality, so that the charges can be resolved in a lawful manner and justice can be pursued on behalf of the victim and the victim’s family.”
It is alleged that on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, Sidney Emmanuel Davis Jr. beat and repeatedly stabbed Fatme Davis, his 23-year-old estranged wife, inside the Meijer gas station at 15031 Hall Road, Shelby Township, MI. Fatme Davis was transported to a local hospital where she died. The child of Fatme Davis and Sidney Davis was in the victim’s car at the gas station for a safe custody exchange.
Colorado
Families demand justice as judge reviews plea deals for former funeral home owners
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado judge will consider on Monday whether to accept the latest plea agreements for two former funeral home owners accused of stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies in a bug-infested building.
The previous plea agreements that called for up to 20 years in prison for Carie and Jon Hallford were rejected by the judge earlier this year, with family members of the deceased saying the proposed punishments were too lenient.
Family members are again expected to protest the latest agreements before Monday’s hearing in Colorado Springs. A statement by the group said they are seeking accountability and want the cases to proceed to trial.
“This case is not about convenience or efficiency,” said Crystina Page, whose son’s body was among those found at the funeral home. “It is about human beings who were treated as disposable. Accepting a plea agreement sends the message that this level of abuse is negotiable. We reject that message.”
The latest plea agreements would have Jon Hallford sentenced to between 30 and 50 years and Carie Hallford to between 25 and 35 years. Victims’ family members want each of them sentenced to 191 years — which would include one year for each victim.
The Hallfords, who owned Return to Nature Funeral Home, are accused of dumping bodies and giving families fake ashes between 2019 and 2023. Last year, both pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse. Jon Hallford’s plea deal was rejected in August, after which he withdrew his guilty plea. Carie Hallford withdrew her guilty plea in early November after it was rejected by State District Judge Eric Bentley in a rare decision.
On Dec. 16, prosecutors announced that the Hallfords had separately entered new guilty pleas. If the judge approves of the latest agreements, Jon Hallford would be sentenced in early February and Carie Hallford would be sentenced in late April.
Investigators have described finding the bodies in 2023 stacked atop each other in a bug-infested building in Penrose, a small town about a two-hour drive south of Denver. The scene was horrific, officials said, with bodies stacked atop each other in various states of decay — some having been there for four years.
While Jon Hallford was accused of dumping the bodies, authorities said Carie Hallford was the face of the funeral home.
During a hearing in November, Bentley said he considered the need for deterrence in rejecting the plea agreement. Colorado, for many years, had some of the weakest funeral home industry regulations in the nation, leading to numerous abuse cases involving fake ashes, fraud, and even the illegal selling of body parts.
In August, authorities announced that during their first inspection of a funeral home owned by the county coroner in Pueblo, Colorado, they found 24 decomposing corpses behind a hidden door.
That investigation is pending as authorities have reported slow progress in identifying corpses that, in some cases, have languished for more than a decade.
The Return to Nature case has helped trigger reforms, including routine inspections.
The Hallfords also have admitted in federal court to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid and taking payments from customers for cremations the funeral home never performed.
Jury convicts security company owner in split verdict over tumultuous town hall meeting
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A man convicted of battering two people at a turbulent legislative town hall was found not guilty on a count that related a woman who was seen being dragged out in a video that went viral.
The Kootenai County jury returned the split verdict against Paul Trouette on Thursday, finding him guilty of violating rules about security guard uniforms and of two counts of misdemeanor battery for his actions against two people who objected when they saw the woman being dragged out. He was found not guilty of four other charges, including battery and false imprisonment, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported.
The chaos at the February meeting in Coeur d’Alene that drew widespread attention was footage of Teresa Borrenpohl, a Democratic legislative candidate who was pulled from the audience after heckling the speakers. The video showed Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris telling Borrenpohl to leave, and then stepping back and recording on his cellphone as multiple unidentified men approached, grabbed her and dragged her out of the meeting. The men were security officers with LEAR Asset Management, but were not wearing any identification or uniforms, and witnesses said they repeatedly refused to identify themselves.
The Idaho Attorney General’s office declined to bring any charges against the sheriff, but the Coeur d’Alene city prosecutor’s office filed misdemeanor charges against Trouette, who owns the security company.
Charges were also initially filed against the other security guards but they were later dropped.
The mixed verdict came after almost eight hours of deliberation, following a three-day trial.
“Justice was done,” the city’s chief deputy prosecutor Ryan Hunter said.
Trouette declined to comment on Friday.
The town hall was organized by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, and hundreds of people from the deeply Republican region attended the event. People in the audience sometimes cheered or shouted words of agreement with the lawmakers speaking at the event, while others — including Borrenpohl — voiced their opposition.
Defense counsel for Trouette told jurors that he was acting at the sheriff’s behest and so did not commit any crimes. In Idaho, sheriffs have the authority to command citizens to aid them in the execution of their duties. But prosecutors contended that this immunity did not apply to Trouette because Norris gave him no specific commands to remove or detain anyone.
The men hauled Borrenpohl from her seat and wrestled her to the ground. One sat on top of her, while another knelt on her back. She said they twisted her limbs and pulled her hair.
“It was incredibly painful,” she testified this week. “I was just trying to keep my airway open.”
Borrenpohl later filed a tort claim against Kootenai County alleging that her constitutional rights were violated by both the security team and Norris. Government entities typically have 90 days to respond to tort claims in Idaho, and if they do not, the person who filed it may be able to file a lawsuit. Borrenpohl’s attorney Wendy Olson said in November that the county had not yet responded to the tort claim. She couldn’t be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
Montana
Former State Senate president charged with official misconduct over no-bid contract
Former Republican state Senate President Jason Ellsworth will be charged with misdemeanor official misconduct for allegedly attempting to award $171,100 worth of government work to a longtime friend and business partner, the state Department of Justice said.
Attorneys for the Department of Justice announced the charge against the legislator from Hamilton on Thursday and requested that the court suspend Ellsworth from serving until judgment is issued. Because Ellsworth is facing term limits that prevent him from running for re-election next year and doesn’t serve on an interim committee, the suspension without pay would have a minimal effect on the final year of his term, when the Legislature isn’t scheduled to meet. Ellsworth’s Senate peers in April banned him from the Senate floor for life and from committees for ethics violations related to the contract issue.
Official misconduct is a misdemeanor with a possible maximum sentence of up to six months in jail. Ellsworth could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon. He has previously denied wrongdoing.
Ellsworth served as Senate president in 2023 but in November 2024 his fellow senators elected Kalispell Republican Sen. Matt Regier over him for the 2025 session, which began in early January.
According to the charging documents the DOJ filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court on Thursday, Regier told investigators he learned in early January that Ellsworth had contracted with a friend to track proposed laws related to Republicans’ long-running efforts to address alleged bias in the state court system.
A March ethics investigation by the Senate revealed that Regier and legislative aide Rhonda Knudsen then submitted a tip to the government fraud hotline run by the state’s Legislative auditor.
Rhonda Knudsen is the mother of state Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who leads the DOJ.
The Legislative Audit Division concluded in January that Ellsworth attempted to split the work awarded to Bryce Eggleston, a former employee of Ellsworth’s magazine subscription business, into two contracts to avoid a $100,000 threshold that would have required the work to go out for bid. The combined value of the two contracts was $170,100. In January, before the investigation into Ellsworth concluded, Eggleston declined the work.
The Senate voted 44 to 6 to censure Ellsworth in April. It voted separately in February to refer a criminal investigation to the Department of Justice.
In a Thursday press release, Regier noted that Republican leadership tried three times to expel Ellsworth from the Senate outright but couldn’t muster the necessary two-thirds majority to do so. Nine Republicans joined Democrats in voting against expulsion in March.
“I applaud Attorney General Austin Knudsen for taking corruption in government seriously,” Regier said in his statement.
Michigan
Court orders competency evaluation of Utica man alleged to have killed his estranged wife
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido announced last week that a Utica man, charged with First-Degree Premeditated Murder related to a stabbing that occurred at a Meijer gas station in Shelby Township, MI, was referred by the court for a competency evaluation.
On Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, 25-year-old Sidney Emmanuel Davis, Jr., of Utica, MI, appeared before Judge Stephen S. Sierawski at the 41A District Court in Shelby Township for a Probable Cause Conference. The court referred Davis to the Center for Forensic Psychiatry for an evaluation regarding his competency to stand trial and scheduled a Review Hearing for Jan. 29, 2026, at 1 p.m.
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido stated, “The court ordered a psychiatric evaluation of the defendant to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. The law requires this determination before the case may proceed, to ensure the proceedings are valid and sustainable. Establishing competency allows the case to move forward with certainty and finality, so that the charges can be resolved in a lawful manner and justice can be pursued on behalf of the victim and the victim’s family.”
It is alleged that on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, Sidney Emmanuel Davis Jr. beat and repeatedly stabbed Fatme Davis, his 23-year-old estranged wife, inside the Meijer gas station at 15031 Hall Road, Shelby Township, MI. Fatme Davis was transported to a local hospital where she died. The child of Fatme Davis and Sidney Davis was in the victim’s car at the gas station for a safe custody exchange.
Colorado
Families demand justice as judge reviews plea deals for former funeral home owners
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado judge will consider on Monday whether to accept the latest plea agreements for two former funeral home owners accused of stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies in a bug-infested building.
The previous plea agreements that called for up to 20 years in prison for Carie and Jon Hallford were rejected by the judge earlier this year, with family members of the deceased saying the proposed punishments were too lenient.
Family members are again expected to protest the latest agreements before Monday’s hearing in Colorado Springs. A statement by the group said they are seeking accountability and want the cases to proceed to trial.
“This case is not about convenience or efficiency,” said Crystina Page, whose son’s body was among those found at the funeral home. “It is about human beings who were treated as disposable. Accepting a plea agreement sends the message that this level of abuse is negotiable. We reject that message.”
The latest plea agreements would have Jon Hallford sentenced to between 30 and 50 years and Carie Hallford to between 25 and 35 years. Victims’ family members want each of them sentenced to 191 years — which would include one year for each victim.
The Hallfords, who owned Return to Nature Funeral Home, are accused of dumping bodies and giving families fake ashes between 2019 and 2023. Last year, both pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse. Jon Hallford’s plea deal was rejected in August, after which he withdrew his guilty plea. Carie Hallford withdrew her guilty plea in early November after it was rejected by State District Judge Eric Bentley in a rare decision.
On Dec. 16, prosecutors announced that the Hallfords had separately entered new guilty pleas. If the judge approves of the latest agreements, Jon Hallford would be sentenced in early February and Carie Hallford would be sentenced in late April.
Investigators have described finding the bodies in 2023 stacked atop each other in a bug-infested building in Penrose, a small town about a two-hour drive south of Denver. The scene was horrific, officials said, with bodies stacked atop each other in various states of decay — some having been there for four years.
While Jon Hallford was accused of dumping the bodies, authorities said Carie Hallford was the face of the funeral home.
During a hearing in November, Bentley said he considered the need for deterrence in rejecting the plea agreement. Colorado, for many years, had some of the weakest funeral home industry regulations in the nation, leading to numerous abuse cases involving fake ashes, fraud, and even the illegal selling of body parts.
In August, authorities announced that during their first inspection of a funeral home owned by the county coroner in Pueblo, Colorado, they found 24 decomposing corpses behind a hidden door.
That investigation is pending as authorities have reported slow progress in identifying corpses that, in some cases, have languished for more than a decade.
The Return to Nature case has helped trigger reforms, including routine inspections.
The Hallfords also have admitted in federal court to defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid and taking payments from customers for cremations the funeral home never performed.
