Trial pending in battery case

SANDPOINT - There appears to be no resolution in a misdemeanor battery case linked to the shooting death of a Bonner County man on Thanksgiving.

As a result, James Mathew Anderson is headed toward trial on the battery count, which stems from an attack on a man at a Sandpoint business on Oct. 1, 2008.

Anderson is also facing a first-degree murder charge for shooting 30-year-old Eli Holt on Nov. 27, 2008. A Bonner County Sheriff - s investigator has testified Holt may have gone to Anderson - s home in Sagle on the night of the killing to confront him about the attack on his friend at Unicep Packaging.

Patrick Keith Eroso Ziarnick, 29, allegedly unleashed a barrage of punches on Holt - s friend. Anderson, according to a Sandpoint Police report, restrained the victim and helped Ziarnick carry out the battery.

Ziarnick pleaded guilty to the battery charge last month and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 21. A preliminary hearing in Anderson - s murder case is planned for the same day.

Anderson, 28, reportedly told a sheriff - s investigator he armed himself with a .44 magnum when Holt and another man unexpectedly showed up at his home at the Travel America mobile home park. Anderson said he brandished the pistol in an attempt to convince the men to leave and it discharged, according to Det. Howard Burke - s testimony in prior proceedings.

Holt died of a gunshot would to the face and Anderson made statements to the detective which suggested the weapon - s discharge was accidental.

Anderson is being held at the Bonner County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. His trial on the battery charge was set for this month, but is being rescheduled, court documents indicate.