Judge upholds jury's verdict in Sutton case

SANDPOINT — A district judge is preserving the guilty verdict against a Washington state man convicted of intimidating a witness in a drug investigation.

Judge Steve Verby upheld the jury verdict against Robert James Sutton Jr. during a hearing on Tuesday, court records indicate.

A Bonner County jury convicted Sutton of witness intimidation, but acquitted him of aggravated assault. Jurors deadlocked on burglary charge alleging Sutton entered the informant’s apartment to commit the crimes.

Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson contends the jury rendered incompatible verdicts and the conviction should be overturned. Robertson argued the intimidation verdict was predicated by the acts alleged assault and burglary charges.

But Verby concluded the guilty verdict was justified and declined to disturb it.

Sutton, a 26-year-old from Spokane, is awaiting sentencing in 1st District Court. Verby ordered Sutton to undergo a psychological evaluation in preparation for his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

Sutton was accused of bursting into a Sandpoint Police drug informant’s apartment last summer and threatening her with a handgun. The state alleged Sutton was attempting to keep the woman from testifying in a relative’s methamphetamine case.