Battery case is heading to trial

SANDPOINT - A Bonner County man is scheduled to be tried in March for allegedly attacking a Ponderay man last year.

Timothy Grant "Bear" Larson has pleaded not guilty to a felony battery charge, court records show.

Larson, 30, was ordered last year to stand trial, despite conflicting witness accounts of the Feb. 29, 2008, street fight in which the victim was allegedly hit with a blind-sided punch and then knifed and kicked as he lay on the ground.

The 49-year-old victim was stabbed in the abdomen, but survived the attack. The weapon was never recovered and that element of the charge is no longer being pursued, according to court documents.

There is also one less defendant in the felony case. Adam Rew Carash, 27, allegedly played a role in the attack, but later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor battery.

The victim, Sidney Wayne Kelley, testified at a preliminary hearing that he was unsure of who sucker punched him. He identified Carash as the knife-wielding assailant during the hearing last November.

What motivated the altercation remains elusive. Witnesses have essentially declined to say what sparked the clash.

The state is seeking enhanced penalties against Larson if he is convicted. He has two prior felony convictions for burglary and drug possession, according to court documents.