Fortney seeks lesser sentence

SANDPOINT — A Priest River man serving a life sentence for ritualized abuse and a litany of other sex crimes is seeking post-conviction relief.

Dana Andrew Furtney argues he received ineffective assistance from his defense counsel and judicial incompetence, according to a petition filed in 1st District court on Feb. 11.

The filing came days within the one-year anniversary of his conviction by a Bonner County jury on nine counts of lewd and lascivious conduct, in addition to lone counts of sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 16, ritualized abuse, felony injury to a child and domestic battery in the presence of a child which resulted in traumatic injury.

Furtney is accused of using his deep religious beliefs to justify the victimization his wife and children at the family’s home north of Priest River from 2009 to 2013. A psychosexual evaluation determined Furtney had an antisocial personality disorder with masochistic and sadist tendencies.

Judge Fred Gibler imposed a life term, the first 25 years of which are fixed, when Furtney was sentenced last May.

Although Furtney testified at trial, he alleges in the relief petition that his defense counsel blocked his “voice” and evidence he sought to introduce during the proceedings. Furtney also notes that the judge declared that he did understand him.

“This declaration proves his incompetence,” Furtney wrote in the civil-court petition.

The petition asks for Furtney to be re-sentence to time served.

Furtney, 50, is serving his sentence at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, according to the Idaho Department of Correction. His parole-eligibility date is 2042.

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