RED LODGE — State Sen. Jason Priest pleaded not guilty Thursday to four criminal charges, including an allegation that he attacked his wife, who states in court records that her husband’s abuse has been going on since before he took office four years ago.
Priest, 45, appeared before Judge Blair Jones in Carbon County District Court and denied a charge of felony assault on a minor and misdemeanor counts of partner or family member assault, assault and resisting arrest.
Those charges stem from an incident outside Priest’s home in Red Lodge on Feb. 1.
Prosecutors say the Republican senator threw his 4-year-old daughter, shoved his estranged wife, Anna Priest, and broke her boyfriend’s rib before struggling with a police officer who witnessed the incident and intervened.
Court records state that Priest’s daughter sustained a 1-inch bump after landing on her head, and that Jonathan Trapp, Anna Priest's boyfriend, was treated at a hospital for a broken rib.
Trapp and Anna Priest both filed for and received orders of protection against the senator in the days after the incident.More here.
Priest's defense is apparently that his wife was acting like "white trash" in front of the children. You just have to beat racial superiority into some people.
The alleged crime happened two months ago, and the defeaning chorus of wingnut bloggers' condemnation of Priest has slowly abated (hint: it's non-existent), but the case came up on Romenesko because the documents depicted brutality too heinous to post online. Now a one-inch bump doesn't sound like a serious injury for a four year old, so why is the paper which reported that detail refusing to link to the report? Well, according to the rag's incoherent editor, a child was involved, but,
More importantly, I believe the court documents could paint Priest in a harsh light. And, just as much as I am a fervent supporter of the First Amendment, I am also a big believer in the due process that says it’s up to the courts to decide Priest’s innocence or guilt.Priorities!
Well, throwing a small child across a room onto her head, shoving white trash an ex-spouse, breaking a guy's rib and resisting arrest tend to expose one to a harsh light. Apparently the editor "routinely post[s] court documents online," but only when those docs portray the accused in a flattering light.
Priest should be bathed in the harsh flourescent light of a maximum security prison, if convicted. The editor should just be flushed.
Perhaps the sanitzing editor is afraid of Tea Party thuggery. From 2010:
Jason Priest, a Republican legislative candidate for Senate District 30, was caught on video calling the voters of Red Lodge “insane.”
Speaking to a group of Tea Party followers, apparently unaware of a running camera, Priest said, “I live in Red Lodge where I’m that guy that nobody agrees with, and I don’t mind. I have to talk to them about things that are important to them in ways that aren’t offensive to them. That’s a good lesson to learn. I would rather tell them they’re insane… Is that camera on?”
...
In that posting, Priest wrote, “Keynes was a big homo if he’s fondling your balls it probably means you’re getting a reach around which is way better than what Obama is giving America. We are all getting the dry thumb.”
Beat down good, reach around bad. By the time of trial, we can expect the white-trash defense to morph into the guardsman's defense.
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