Prisoner who spoke to the Idaho newspaper says prosecutors retaliated. A judge just ruled

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — An Ada County judge has ruled against an Idaho prisoner who argued that prosecutors’ latest felony charge against him was retaliation for speaking to the Idaho Statesman.

Bobby Templin, a 34-year-old man incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south of Boise, said a new felony charge he faced two months after the publication of a Statesman story was an act of retaliation from prosecutors and asked the judge to dismiss the charge. Templin was featured in a Statesman article in October 2023 about his fractured hand and his pleas to seek medical help that went unanswered for several months.

Fourth Judicial District Judge Cynthia Yee-Wallace wasn’t persuaded.

In a 28-page order, Yee-Wallace wrote that there wasn’t any evidence that the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office engaged in “vindictive prosecution.” The prosecution’s decision to charge Templin with a felony wasn’t because he spoke to the Statesman about the medical care he received while incarcerated, she concluded.

“In short, the record before the court does not reveal any facts indicating realistic likelihood of vindictiveness on the part of the prosecutor in this case,” Yee-Wallace wrote. “The court thus finds that defendant has not shown that the prosecutor engaged in vindictive prosecution in this case, and Templin’s motion to dismiss is denied.”

In January 2023, Templin’s thumb was fractured in the moments after a fight broke out at the Idaho State Correctional Center. Templin told the Statesman it happened when correctional officers were restraining him, while an IDOC report said he punched a wall after he was detained.

Records showed IDOC wouldn’t take Templin to see a specialist for six months, despite Templin’s continual pleas for help. By then an expert said permanent damage was likely done.

The Ada County Prosecutor’s Office charged Templin with felony battery against a correctional officer in December 2023, two months after the story was published, which could keep him in prison for another five years if he’s convicted. Templin had been under investigation by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office since the January 2023 fight over the allegation that he struck a correctional officer.

But Templin’s attorney called the timing suspect.

Mike French, a Boise-based attorney, filed a motion to dismiss the felony against Templin, arguing that her client was retaliated against because he “dared to speak out against the persistent medical neglect he suffered at the hands” of the Idaho Department of Correction.

Prosecutors also filed a persistent violator enhancement against Templin, which could add at least another five years to his prison sentence. The charge can be tacked on by prosecutors once someone has been convicted of three felonies. Templin’s only other felony convictions are for possession of a controlled substance and grand theft.

‘No evidence’ of retaliation, judge says

When the January 2023 fight broke out at the Idaho Department of Correction’s Kuna prison, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office was called to handle the investigation. Ada County Detective Alex McCray investigated the allegation that Templin struck an IDOC officer in the neck and head that day. The officer didn’t have any injuries or need medical attention, according to court records.

IDOC identified a total of 13 men who participated in the fight. A review of court records by the Statesman showed that Templin was the only person who was criminally charged in connection with the fight.

Despite reaching out to IDOC three times, McCray said in court that he didn’t receive the investigative materials related to Templin’s case until Oct. 5, 2023. He said the delay wasn’t unusual in IDOC cases. It was the same day a Statesman reporter had emailed an IDOC spokesperson to request an interview regarding the agency’s medical practices.

A day after McCray received the files, IDOC Chief Investigator Nicole Fraser emailed McCray’s supervisor, Ada County Sgt. Bill Weires, and asked for a timeline on when they planned to close the case, according to Yee-Wallace’s order.

“We have a news outlet requesting information about this case,” Fraser wrote, later adding that she needed “this information” as soon as possible. The newspaper published the article a week later.

McCray said during an August court hearing he never felt any pressure from IDOC or the Sheriff’s Office to get the case to the Prosecutor’s Office, and that he treated this case no differently than any case he received from IDOC. He added that no one from IDOC suggested that Templin should be prosecuted for the charges and that no one from the Prosecutor’s Office inquired about the case until McCray submitted it for review.

But French said IDOC officials only began communicating with the Sheriff’s Office once they learned Templin was talking to the Statesman.

Yee-Wallace said that there was “no evidence” that the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office was aware of these emails, adding that she would not “impute or attribute” the actions of IDOC or the Sheriff’s Office to the prosecutors in Templin’s case.

“Similarly, there is no evidence or support linking the prosecutor’s decision to charge Templin in this case” because of Templin’s medical care, Yee-Wallace wrote.

Templin’s prison sentence ends in February but will likely be released to the Ada County Jail if his new charges aren’t resolved by then.

For now, Templin spends most of his day in a solitary confinement cell in the state’s highest security prison. His next hearing is at 11 a.m. Dec. 10 at the Ada County Courthouse.