Ada County prosecutor reaffirms Lemhi County shooting was self-defense
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SALMON — On June 23, 2019, in Salmon, someone called 911 at 2:30 a.m. to say three people had been involved in a fight, and one of them, 28-year-old Zachary Stinson, was dead.
When police arrived, they discovered Jesse Peterson, one of the men involved in the fight, shot Stinson once in the neck, killing him. After Idaho State Police finished their investigation, they turned the case over to the Lemhi County Prosecutor’s Office.
Peterson said he was involved in an argument with Stinson. He admitted to firing the shot that killed him. But, according to investigative documents, all of his actions were taken in self-defense. No charges were filed against Peterson, and he was never arrested.
Peterson’s claim of self-defense is valid under Idaho law.
On Feb. 21, 2020, Ada County Chief Criminal Prosecutor Scott Bandy sent a letter to the Lemhi County Prosecutor’s Office regarding the case.
Bandy wrote, “Given the nature of the events, the location and ownership of the property, the verbal threats made by Zachary Stinson accompanied by the apparent ability to carry out the threat to kill Jesse Peterson, and the current state of all of the evidence available; the State would not be able to meet its burden to overcome Jesse Peterson’s right to self-defense, defense of property, and/or other defenses beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Ada County is involved because Lemhi County prosecutors asked them for a “conflict review.” According to state law, a conflict review is necessary when a public or elected official has or could have a conflict of interest regarding the case. A conflict of interest could be anything from friendship with one of the parties involved to being related to a witness to having a history with the defendant or the victim.
In the Stinson case, Lemhi County Prosecutor Paul Withers requested a conflict review after speaking with the Stinson family.
“Zach’s family reached out to me and had some concerns that I may or may not be able to review the police reports unbiasedly,” said Withers. “So as a courtesy to them, I asked Ada County, and they were nice enough to do the review.”
Ada County prosecutors received all the evidence and came to the same conclusion as Lemhi County.
In Idaho, state code categorizes self-defense as “justifiable homicide.” The code goes on to give an example of homicide being justified when it was committed to resist “any attempt to murder any person, or to commit a felony, or to do some great bodily injury upon any person.” Therefore, in the Stinson case, the state decided not to arrest Peterson because he argued he committed the homicide of Stinson to resist his own murder or great bodily injury, according to court documents.
Stinson’s family, however, believes that justice has not been served. They created a Facebook page in Stinson’s memory called “Justice for Zachary.” On February 28, one post on the page read, “Zach, we make a promise to you… It’s time to step up and make those responsible, accountable…and we will go to the ends of the earth to do so, even if it means playing an integral role ensuring another innocent victim such as yourself has a voice.”
Currently, according to available documents, there are no plans to prosecute Peterson.