Man pleads not guilty in shooting incident

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man accused of firing gunshots at a family walking along the road in Samuels is pleading not guilty, court records show.

William J. Juettner’s plea clears the way for a jury trial in Bonner County Magistrate Court in March 2018. He is charged with discharging a firearm at another person without causing harm, a misdemeanor.

The alleged victim called told sheriff’s deputies that Juettner opened fire on him while he was walking on a public easement road with his family on Thanksgiving. Another man walking with the family said he saw Juettner enter his home, emerge with a revolver and could hear the hammer striking an empty chamber in the cylinder as he tried to fire the pistol, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Two gunshots rang out as they retreated from the area, the affidavit said.

The incident happened in the 300 block of Fox Glen Road, court records indicate.

Juettner, 75, told deputies that he was confronted by a trespasser who knew him but whom Juettner did not. Juettner admitted he fired into the darkness with a .38-caliber pistol out of anger, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Juettner has no prior criminal history the state of Idaho, according to the state supreme court data repository.

Discharging a firearm at another person without causing harm is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, according to Idaho Code.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by phone at 208-263-9534, by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.