Plea talks underway in shooting

SANDPOINT — Plea negotiations are underway in the case of a former Sandpoint man accused of shooting at an employee at a Huckleberry Retirement facility last June.

Preliminary hearings in the aggravated assault case against James Albert Raftery III have been delayed repeatedly due to a mental health evaluation to determine if he could assist in his own defense and witness availability conflicts. The hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to justify a trial in 1st District Court was scheduled for last month, although it was continued partly because plea negotiations in the case were ongoing, court records show.

A new preliminary hearing date is set for Wednesday.

Raftery, 63, is free on his own recognizance while the case is pending. A condition of his release requires him to stay engaged in mental health treatment, according to court documents.

Rattery picked up the felony assault charge after allegedly opening fire on a facility employee who directed another employee to collect a dinner plate from the resident. Raftery allegedly grabbed the female employee’s arm and drew a pistol from beneath his shirt and fired on the male employee, who escaped injury after ducking for cover, according Bonner County prosecutors.

The firearm involved in the shooting was a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol patterned after a Model 1911 pistol, court documents indicate.

Raftery’s fitness to proceed in the case was drawn into question following his arrest, although court documents do not specify what informed that question. After undergoing treatment while incarcerated at a state facility, Raftery was returned to Bonner County to answer to the charge.

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