Man sentenced in shooting case

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man who opened fire at an assisted living facility in Sandpoint last year did so because he believed his food was being poisoned, according to his defense counsel.

James Albert Raftery III was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following the incident at Huckleberry Assisted Living on June 9, 2018. The employee who was fired upon managed to dodge the shot from a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol and escaped injury.

Raftery, 64, was accused of firing on an employee who directed another employee to collect his dinner plate, according to court documents.

Raftery pleaded not guilty to the felony offense, but subsequently agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges of misdemeanor assault and disturbing the peace as his case neared trial in 1st District Court.

At his sentencing hearing, Raftery’s attorney, Public Defender Susie Jensen, explained why her client had such a violent reaction to his plate being gathered up.

“He believed staff had poisoned his meal,” Jensen said during the hearing.

Jensen said Raftery drew a pistol and fired under the belief that he was preserving evidence of the perceived malfeasance.

Raftery was apologetic to the victim in the case, in addition to the court and the attorneys.

“I just to want to apologize to everybody for taking up their time,” Raftery said.

The victim in the case declined provide an impact statement to the court before Raftery was sentenced.

Bonner County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank recommended two years of supervised probation because Raftery served 115 days of pretrial incarceration while undergoing mental health evaluations after his competency to proceed in the case was drawn into question.

“The reason for this resolution is the amount of time served while undergoing evaluations,” Greenbank said.

Jensen urged for unsupervised probation because Raftery, an honorably discharged U.S. Air Force veteran, had no prior criminal history outside of a 1978 misdemeanor theft charge. Jensen also asked the court to waive fines, fees and costs due to her client’s limited income and to place Raftery on unsupervised probation because he doesn’t have a vehicle to drive to town to keep appointments.

“While he’s on his new medication, I certainly don’t think anything like this will ever happen again,” said Jensen.

Judge Barbara Buchanan ultimately opted for supervised probation, a condition of which requires him to remain engaged in treatment for a diagnosed mental health condition.

“If it’s not treated, just like any other illness, it has horrible symptoms,” said Buchanan. “In this case, a gun was fired. You could have been injured. Somebody else could have been injured or killed. So, the key for you is staying on your medication.”

Raftery was sentenced to 90 days in jail with credit for 90 days of time served on the assault charge. He was concurrently sentenced to 180 days on the disturbance charge with 45 days suspended and 20 days to be served at the discretion of his probation officer.

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