Suspect charged with witness intimidation

SANDPOINT — Legal troubles are compounding for an 18-year-old Bonner County man facing felony kidnapping and assault charges.

Jayden Mark Day is being charged with witness intimidation and violating a court-imposed no-contact order after the alleged victim in the assault case declined to testify at a preliminary hearing due to threats, court records show. Day made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court via videoconferencing with the jail on Monday, although information regarding Day’s bail and defense counsel was not immediately available.

Day’s grandmother, meanwhile, is charged with witness intimidation and aiding and abetting the violation of a no-contact order, according to court documents. Carol Anne Day, 59, is free on a $25,000 surety bond while her case is pending.

Carol Day’s defense counsel, Sandpoint attorney Michael Waldrup, has filed a motion to suppress evidence in the case, arguing that it was collected in violation of his client’s constitutional rights.

Jayden Day’s troubles with the law began on Jan. 14, after he was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute as he drove the alleged victim, also 18, eastbound on U.S. Highway 2. He allegedly held the woman against her will and battered her in the cab of the pickup truck, according to a probable cause affidavit. Jayden Day also threatened to drive into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer, the affidavit said.

The alleged victim was scheduled to testify at a Jan. 23 hearing to determine if there was sufficient evidence to justify trying Jayden Day on the kidnapping and aggravated assault charges. The woman didn’t appear in court to testify, prompting Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Katie Edburg to move for a dismissal without prejudice, court records show.

The nature of the dismissal, however, allowed the state to reinstate the charges. Moreover, investigators began poring over recorded phone calls Jayden Day made to his grandmother and siblings in the days leading up to the preliminary hearing.

In the calls, Jayden Day initially warned his grandmother not to contact the alleged victim as third-party contact would violate the court’s order. Carol Day argued she was not subject to the court’s order and Jayden Day allegedly went on to urge her and other family members to contact the woman and persuade her not to testify or to alter her testimony in a bid to lessen the charges, the affidavit said.

Jayden Day’s preliminary hearing on the kidnapping and assault charges is set for today. Jayden and Carol Day’s preliminary hearings on the witness intimidation charges are scheduled for Feb. 6.

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