Man faces rape, battery charges

SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing is set for a Clark Fork man accused of going on a violent rampage last fall that included a sexual assault.

Joshua James Lee Howell is charged with rape, felony assault and battery, and attempted strangulation. He was arrested on a $100,000 warrant on Friday.

A hearing to determine if Howell should be tried in 1st District Court is scheduled for Jan. 26.

Judge Debra Heise sustained Howell’s bail on Monday and appointed a public defender to represent him.

A no-contact order involving the two alleged victims was also issued.

The charges stem from an Oct. 21, 2010, incident which took place over a period of a couple of hours in the presence of children, according to court documents.

It allegedly began at a Sunnyside area home with an argument between Howell and his 34-year-old girlfriend that escalated. Another woman in the home at the time told a Bonner County Sheriff’s deputy that an intoxicated Howell, 25, threw her off a porch, which twisted her arm in the process.

An orthopedist who examined the woman said she could have permanent damage from a dislocated elbow, which resulted in a felony battery charge.

Howell, court documents said, subsequently choked his girlfriend into unconsciousness, prompting her 7-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son to plead with Howell not to kill their mother. After the woman came to, Howell allegedly pointed a weapon at her head and threatened to kill everybody there and then himself.

The victim managed to disarm Howell, at which point she discovered the weapon was a pellet gun. Howell later insisted on having sex against the wishes of his girlfriend, a sheriff’s Det. Phyllis Jay testified during a probable cause hearing last month. The woman told investigators she complied with Howell’s wishes out of fear for her kids’ safety.

Judge Barbara Buchanan asked during Jan. 11 hearing why there was a three-month delay in seeking charges against Howell. Jay testified that the victim reported the incident quickly after it happened, but was reluctant to cooperate with the investigation because she feared investigators would not believe her story.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall said the lag time was a point of concern, but told Buchanan that the delay did nothing to diminish the degree of violence in the alleged attacks, court records show.