Judge delays sentencing in Sutton case

SANDPOINT — Sentencing has been put on hold for a Washington state man convicted of intimidating a witness in a methamphetamine investigation.

District Judge Steve Verby ruled on Monday that there was reason to doubt Robert James Sutton’s fitness to proceed at the hearing because of mental health questions.

Sutton, 26, of Spokane Valley, was convicted of witness intimidation, but acquitted of aggravated assault in connection with a June 17, 2008, confrontation at a drug informant’s downtown apartment. The state alleged Sutton burst into the woman’s apartment and threatened her with a pistol to dissuade her from testifying against a relative accused of selling methamphetamine.

The verdicts were reached following a three-day trial in February. Sutton was also convicted of a being a persistent violator due to prior judgments against him for burglary an eluding.

Under the persistent violator statute, Sutton faces a prison sentence of five years to life. He was scheduled to be sentenced on Monday, although Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson moved for a mental evaluation.

Robertson said her client is suffering from auditory hallucinations, symptoms which are interfering with her client’s ability to assist in the proceedings. Robertson said Sutton’s medication has been unable to resolve the issue.

“My client has a committee going on his head,” she said.

It’s at least the second time the proceedings against Sutton have been interrupted because of doubts about his mental competency.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall objected to a continuance.

“I don’t see anything that leads me to believe that he can’t participate in his sentencing,” Marshall said after reviewing Sutton’s mental health evaluation.

Neither did Verby, initially. But the court ultimately ordered Sutton to undergo another evaluation after Robertson argued that her client’s thoughts indicated that he posed he was a danger to himself.

Another hearing in the case is planned for July 6.