Defense seeks hearing on witnesses

SANDPOINT — A pressing question in bizarre felony assault case could be answered next week.

Defense counsel for Paul Fagerlie Finman is moving for the state to disclose the whereabouts of his accusers, including the family’s patriarch. The defense has repeatedly attempted — without success — to serve subpoenas on the family to ensure its attendance at trial.

Attorney Jeremy Featherston’s motion will be taken up during a pretrial hearing next Monday. Finman’s five-day jury trial in 1st District Court is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Finman, 56, is charged with three counts of aggravated assault for using a tractor to dismantle a home occupied by three people in Vay in 2010. Finman owned the home and believed the Campbell family, which was being evicted, had already quit the premises.

Susan Campbell and her two children fled the home and testified that they feared for their lives. The family’s father, Alexander Duncan Campbell, was not present during the incident but figures prominently in the dispute with Finman.

Alexander Campbell is an avowed sovereign citizen and the subject of arrest warrants from Kootenai and Nez Perce counties for failure to appear in court on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and motor-vehicle related violations.

Supporters of Finman, a connected businessman and entrepreneur, have been clamoring for Alexander Campbell’s arrest and wondering if he’ll show for the trial. They also contend Bonner County officials have essentially given a sovereign citizen preferential treatment, an allegation prosecutors and Sheriff Daryl Wheeler have repeatedly denied.

Alexander Campbell was subpoenaed as a defense witness for Finman’s preliminary hearing, but he dodged it by claiming he was incorrectly named in the document.

All the members of the Campbell family are identified as state’s trial witnesses.