Appeals court upholds rulings

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Court of Appeals is upholding the revocation of a Priest River man’s probation for repeated violations and a 1st District judge’s refusal to grant leniency in the case.

David Norman Hyatt was charged with failing to register as a sex offender in 2009. He pleaded guilty to the offense and was given a suspended two- to four-year prison term, but was later found to be in violation of the terms of his probation for drinking alcohol and battering his wife, according to court documents.

While on release and awaiting a hearing to address the violations, Hyatt was accused of unlawfully entering a residence, violating a civil protection order, driving under the influence and operating a vehicle without an interlock device designed to keep Hyatt off the road if he had consumed alcohol.

First District Judge Barbara Buchanan revoked Hyatt’s probation and imposed the suspended sentence. However, the court retained jurisdiction over Hyatt, which effectively qualified him for release onto probation after serving up to a year in prison.

Hyatt was subsequently convicted of DUI at the felony level and received a sentence that ran concurrently with the sentence he was serving.

After completing a period of retained jurisdiction, Hyatt was released, but again ran afoul of the terms of his probation by providing shelter to a runaway and associating with a person he was expressly told not to by his probation officer.

Buchanan agreed to give Hyatt “one more chance” to straighten himself out, but he was accused in 2014 of committing battery, disturbing the peace, driving without privileges, speeding and failing to provide proof of insurance, according to court documents. He was again accused of drinking and battering his wife in 2015, prompting Buchanan to revoke Hyatt’s probation. He was ordered to serve up to four years in prison, despite post-conviction pleas for leniency.

Hyatt argued that his wife’s health and financial problems were exacerbated by his absence, but Buchanan declined those pleas.

Hyatt appealed, but appellate court Judge Sergio Gutierrez agreed with Buchanan’s conclusions in the matter.

“Hyatt’s previous sentences and probations have not deterred him from continuing to violate his probation terms and the law,” Gutierrez wrote in an eight-page unpublished opinion released on Wednesday. “Such actions endanger society.”

Hyatt, 55, is serving his sentence at the Idaho Correctional Institution in Orofino, according to the Idaho Department of Correction’s website.