Jury convicts man of assault
SANDPOINT - A Bonner County jury has convicted a former Priest Lake man of threatening his landlord with a .22-caliber rifle in a dispute last spring.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours before convicting Michael John Reisert of aggravated assault.
The landlord testified during a two-day trial last week that Reisert came out of trailer naked and appeared to be intoxicated. After greeting him with a couple of obscene hand gestures, Reisert retrieved a rifle and pointed it at him.
Reisert, who now lives near Spokane, Wash., took the stand to deny the allegations and testified that he was asleep when the alleged episode took place, court records show.
Jurors, however, were not persuaded by the defendant's testimony and convicted Reisert of the felony charge on Friday. Reisert's sentencing hearing is pending.
Reisert, 56, was arrested following the bizarre incident in Coolin on March 30. The landlord testified Reisert and other tenants of the trailer park had earlier been given notice that they needed to move because the property was being developed into permanent home sites.
The landlord, 42-year-old Daniel Mack, was not injured in the confrontation. Mack told jurors he was helping Reisert's neighbor move a boat and trailer when he was threatened by Reisert.
During closing arguments, Bonner County Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson emphasized the question of reasonable doubt and pointed out that Mack was the only one who testified seeing Reisert naked and armed.
The neighbor who Mack was helping testified he did not see a weapon and only saw Reisert's head and hands, according to court records.
"It just doesn't add up to a guilty verdict of aggravated assault," Robertson said.
Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank downplayed the reasonable doubt question as uncomplicated.
"There can be doubt, but is it reasonable? Aliens could have beamed themselves down and actually committed this offense in Mr. Reisert's place. That's possible, but is it reasonable?" Greenbank said.