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Armstrong man’s story “did not ring true” in sexual assault trial: Judge

ARMSTRONG - What began as a cordial conversation between two strangers hiding out from the rain at an Armstrong church took a sinister turn when the man pinned the woman against a wall, sexually assaulted her, and threatened to strangle her if she resisted. The woman, in her early 20s, was scared and hesitant at...

Traffic court on its way out with new e-ticketing system

WILL THE DECISION RELIEVE BACKED UP PROVINCIAL COURTS AND SAVE MONEY OR WILL IT STRIP YOU OF YOUR RIGHTS? KAMLOOPS - A critic of a new amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act — which will introduce driving notices instead of tickets and remove provincial traffic courts for disputes — calls the move unconstitutional and plans...

District seeks court permission to euthanize “dangerous” dog

KELOWNA – A local couple will find out next week if their dog will be euthanized for what has been called a “severe” attack, which left a Kelowna woman with deep cuts to her legs and arm. A four day trial in Kelowna court concluded this week and Judge Jane Cartwright will decide Wednesday, April...

Alleged gangster convicted for cache of guns released

KELOWNA – A man suspected of having ties to the Hells Angels who was convicted of almost a dozen weapons-related charges last year has been released from custody pending an appeal. Cory Joseph Montemurro, 45, was driving a rented Jeep Grand Cherokee Nov. 25, 2010 when police found him and three other men with an...

‘One can hardly imagine a more horrific assault’ than Bobbitt’s: Crown

KELOWNA – Reckless, self-serving, grandiose, entitled, antisocial, narcissistic, lacking in empathy, sexually sadistic, psychopathic and violent. Those are some of the words the Crown used to describe David Wesley Bobbitt in a hearing to determine if he deserves dangerous offender status. Bobbitt, 39, has already pleaded guilty to seven charges, but before Justice Peter Rogers...

Bobbitt sentencing reconvenes in Kelowna

KELOWNA – An ex-girlfriend who says she too was sexually abused by David Wesley Bobbitt is not credible, according to defence lawyer James Pennington. On Wednesday morning Bobbitt’s sentencing reconvened in Kelowna Supreme Court after a seven month break. Since starting June 23, the focus has been to determine if Bobbitt, who pleaded guilty to...

Kelowna RCMP ‘routinely’ breach privacy during strip searches: Judge

KELOWNA – Kelowna RCMP "routinely" violate the right to privacy of female prisoners during strip searches at the detachment and show "ignorance of the law" on the subject, according to a ruling from a provincial court judge. Judge Ellen Burdett said local Mounties' practice of recording and broadcasting female strip searches to a guard room...

100 horses for sale following Armstrong cruelty investigation

"LET'S SAVE THIS THING AND MAKE IT TURN OUT FOR THE GOOD" ARMSTRONG - Homes are being sought for 100 horses in Armstrong following an animal cruelty investigation. The horses belong to Gary Roberts, 69, who faces two counts of animal cruelty charges stemming from a December 2014 B.C. SPCA investigation. Seventeen of Roberts’ horses...

Convicted killer due for sentencing for ramming police car

"IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT PERIODS OF INCARCERATION HAVE AFFECTED HIM." KELOWNA – A Kelowna man with an extensive criminal history is being sentenced for using a stolen truck to ram a police car as he tried to evade arrest only one year after being released from prison for a 2005 manslaughter conviction. "It was only...

Hells Angel sentencing could be postponed until after Christmas

KELOWNA - What was supposed to be a day of final submissions ahead of sentencing has turned into a multi-day examination into the lives of two men convicted of multiple weapons charges. Admitted Hells Angel Joseph Bruce Skreptak and alleged gang associate Cory Montemurro asked to postpone sentencing until early January so they can spend...

90 days in jail for child porn

KELOWNA - A Kelowna man will spend the next 20 weekends behind bars for having pornographic images of kids between the ages of six and 12 on his computer. Terrance Richard Avery, 68, was arrested in 2011 after police traced his IP address and obtained a search warrant for his residence. Crown prosecutor Murray Kaay says...

Native court workers protest for equal pay

OKANAGAN - Native court workers are standing up against the government asking for equal pay after being cut out of a deal five years ago that increased the wages of others but not court workers. Jack Kruger, a veteran native court worker and counsellor, has spent the past two days outside the Penticton and Kelowna...

Kelowna lawyer fined $10,000 for these two words

LAWYER AND COP SQUARED OFF IN COURTHOUSE Language advisory KELOWNA - A local lawyer is paying a hefty price for a heated exchange with a police officer while trying to resolve a case in the Kelowna Law Courts in 2011. Marty Johnson, who practices criminal defence and personal injury law, was suspended from practicing law...

Admitted child pornographer opts to start sentence early

KELOWNA - A man who admits to making child pornography in 2007 and 2008 has opted to go into custody early. David Gerald Smart, 42, pleaded guilty to making and possessing child pornography in Kelowna and Cranbrook between Nov. 1, 2007 and Jan. 31, 2008. Charged in August 2013, Smart was granted bail and released, but on Tuesday...

Murder victim was a popular employee of Kelowna Flightcraft

KELOWNA - The man killed in what police are calling an unprovoked attack on a city bus last week is being remembered by coworkers as a popular, unique man dedicated to his job. Before he was murdered on a bus on Baron Road last Thursday, Caesar Rosales, 55, was a business systems analyst for Kelowna...

Judge throws cold water on this short cut police use to get warrants

LAKE COUNTRY - Police in B.C. may find it a little tougher to obtain a search warrant after a B.C. Supreme Court justice in the Okanagan put a roadblock on a common short cut used by police for years. Justice Gary Weatherill tossed out a search warrant in a Lake Country pot case Oct. 23,...

Vernon man expected to plead guilty to luring, child porn charges

VERNON - A Vernon man was scheduled to enter intended guilty pleas Monday in Vernon Supreme Court on various child pornography related charges, but that won’t happen for another few weeks. David Clayton Willerth, born in 1974, faces 25 counts, including luring children under 16 over the computer, making or publishing child pornography and invitation...

Tearful testimony from cops who thought they were going to die

KELOWNA – Two RCMP constables, testifying in the Kelowna Supreme Court trial of accused Westside Road shooter Michael Ellis Thursday afternoon, relived a day they will never forget. Const. Tara Schneider was working general duty in Vernon the afternoon of July 31, 2012 when a call that police were in pursuit of a suspect who...

Penticton man sentenced to five years in prison for sex assault

PENTICTON - A local man was sentenced today to nearly five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of sexual and aggravated assault. Darren MacDonald, 42, appeared in Penticton Supreme Court via video conference from Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre where he has been in custody since Aug. 11, 2013. He pleaded guilty this...

This is how a 76-year-old woman responded to threats from Penticton city hall

PENTICTON - A local woman refuses to apologize to city staff about comments she made in letters sent to city staff and council, and puts herself at risk to be sued. Elvena Slump, 76, has been an outspoken member of the public and has written several letters to local media and city council critical of...

OOPS: Man accidentally released on bail on domestic violence charges

KAMLOOPS – A man held in custody on a string of domestic violence charges was mistakenly set free on bail from the Kamloops Law Courts and a Supreme Court judge was asked to fix it last week. "Confusing," was how Justice Hope Hyslop described the situation surrounding Jeremy Allen, born 1980. It's not clear exactly...

Another example of the horrors of drug addiction: judge

KELOWNA - An admitted drug addict who brutally attacked another admitted drug addict pled guilty to aggravated assault and has been sentenced to two years in prison. James Andrew Miklik, 37, punched Margitt Laverentz 4 times after he felt she had “shorted” him on a drug deal and wasn’t happy with her response to his...