Judge orders new trial in lewd conduct case

SANDPOINT — A Washington state man serving a life sentence for a lewd conduct conviction is receiving a new trial.

Mark Richard Boncz was convicted during a 2009 bench trial of molesting a Priest River girl in 2005. Boncz opted for a court trial after it was divulged during jury selection that he had been convicted of sexually abusing a minor in 1987.

That fact was not expected to emerge at trial unless Boncz testified, according to court documents.

Boncz denied the allegations and argued the charges were either maliciously concocted by the girl’s family or they were providing cover to the person who had molested her.

On appeal, Boncz argued he received ineffective assistance from his defense counsel, former Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson. Boncz contended that he wished to testify during the trial, but Robertson never called him to the stand.

The Idaho Court of Appeals ruled that Boncz had a prima facie showing that he had been prejudiced by his trial’s attorney failure to call him as a witness and remanded the case back to 1st District Court for further proceedings.

Boncz testified during a post-conviction hearing last month that he should have been called as a witness because he would have been able to impeach or otherwise discredit the testimony of a number of state’s witnesses.

In written findings and conclusions, district Judge Jeff Brudie ruled that it may have been a strategic decision to keep Boncz off the stand to keep his prior conviction from emerging, although that gambit was pointless because Boncz opted for a court trial before a judge who was already well aware of the conviction.

“Boncz’s trial counsel may have made the tactical decision not to call Boncz, however this was a decision left to Boncz’s ultimate authority and should have been the subject of extensive discussion once a jury was no longer in play,” Brudie wrote.

Brudie also noted that trial court Judge Steve Verby didn’t discuss with Boncz his right to testify and if it was Boncz’s intention to waive that right.

Brudie concluded that Robertson’s decision not to call Boncz and the court’s waiver oversight combined to trigger a new trial because Boncz demonstrated that his counsel’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, court records indicate.

A new trial date is pending.

Boncz, a 61-year-old from Newport, is being held at the Idaho State Correctional Center in Kuna, according to the Idaho Department of Correction’s website.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.