Intoxicated defendant arrested in court

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint man was arrested Tuesday after showing up to his sentencing in a felony domestic case late, under the influence of alcohol and unprepared for the hearing.

Mark Ewing’s was ordered held Wednesday in lieu of $100,000 bail for contempt, court records show. A defense motion is pending to reduce bail or release Ewing on his own recognizance.

Ewing’s sentencing hearing in 1st District Court has been reset for March 21.

Ewing, 52, was charged last August with domestic battery after allegedly throwing a 41-year-old woman to the ground and punching her twice in the face, which resulted in traumatic injury. He was further charged with attempted strangulation, although that offense was dismissed as part of a plea agreement with the state.

Ewing told Sandpoint Police that she attacked him and was so out of control that she managed to cause the injuries to herself, court documents indicate. Ewing was also charged with violating a no-contact order on six occasions.

Ewing entered an Alford plea to the domestic violence charge, which meant that he preferred to avail himself of a plea agreement rather than going to trial. Although he admits no wrongdoing under such a plea, it will be regarded no differently than a plea of guilt when he’s sentenced.

The misdemeanor no-contact order violations will be addressed at sentencing, according to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository.

Ewing was ordered to obtain a domestic abuse evaluation after entering his plea last November, but the evaluation was never done. Ewing’s defense counsel, Sandpoint attorney Paul Vogel, took the blame for the oversight, court records indicate.