Blake Hall goes to jail

Thanks Mike. Judge Don Harding indeed threw the book at him, giving him six months jail (the max), suspending all but fifteen days, pending successful completion of supervised probation for one year. I got a kind of visceral sense of satisfaction knowing that he wasn't expecting anything of the sort being not only a first time offender, but one who believed he was beyond the reach of this type of justice.

Interesting that there continues to be a news blackout on this. Popkey had a minor blurb which surprises me since the details appear quite salacious. Heres the KIDK link which barely scratches the surface. I can't tell if he gave an Alford plea which they imply. An Alford plea is technically a plea that says the prosecutor can get a conviction but the defendant doesn't technically agree that he did it.

Out of curiosity, I looked up more about the so-called Alford plea.

"...the defendant does not admit the act and asserts innocence, but admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty."

I can see you're going to convict me, so I give up. Sounds like a rather unconvincing claim to innocence.

The lawyers will know better what technical advantage it might convey; for future reference, it counts as "guilty." And indeed, as captured on the KIDK video excerpt of the proceedings, Hall admitted inappropriate behavior. The Judge noted that it was inappropriate to an exceptional degree. Still, a misdemeanor conviction.

"I'm gonna sentence you to six years in jail. But I'm gonna suspend all but 15 days of that," said honorable Judge Harding.

If this was truly among the longest lasting and most severe cases that a criminal judge (of all people) had ever seen, then why wasn't Hall charged and convicted of a felony?

So, he's out as deputy prosecuting attorney for Bonneville Co., after 26 years in that job. But Fremont County is keeping him on his $31k/year job there. The Prosecutor who hired him in January, Joette Lookabaugh thinks this is just "political glee in striking down the well-known for any real or perceived foible."

Either that, or maybe removing from power those who abuse their power in outrageous ways, Joette? (Are you sure you're qualified for your job? Just sayin'. I mean, you are a Republican and everything, but still.)

He's already quit his RNC general counsel and State Board of Education jobs, but he still has a private law practice, and is administrator of the state Catastrophic Health Care Program and an attorney for the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, or ICRMP.

I don't imagine so much work will keep rolling in, but who knows? He could join Larry Craig's lobbying company maybe.

Courtesy of the Statesman:
Incident/Investigation Report for the case, partially redacted.

The Post-Register let out some details of the stalking incidents this morning.

Hall allegedly had a Bonneville County deputy fired for going out with the victim after one of her breakups with Hall. There were 3 breakups before he quit the relationship.

Hall confronted the woman several times in public; once at a dept. store, where he took her keys and wouildn't let her leave until she talked to him, once at a burger joint when he began crying, once when she was on a date with another guy. Hall shadowed them at a restaurant, then confronted them in front of the local theatre complex. On that occasion, she had a few brief words, then kicked a front door to the theatre.

He also entered her house without permission, and found her upstairs, half-dressed. He had a major confrontation with her at that time, and she called a girlfriend. The girlfriend came and got her, and Hall jumped in the car with them, but exited soon after.

There were several other instances, both private and public. The tone of the report gave me a feeiling that Hall was all tipped over emotionally, and was acting pretty much like a jilted kid. Apparently, Hall didn't ever assault her, but he did a fair amount of public sobbing and humiliation. (for them both, I think). He was once run off her place by a later boyfriend and his son.

The paper also blasted Lookabaugh in an editorial for her retaining Hall as outside counsel for Fremont County.

Hall resigned his nat. Repub Committee seat last week, and Danke Watkins Jr., the Bonneville County prosecutor, fired him from his assistant counsel job Monday. Hall held the job for 23 years, and was paid $60,000 yearly. He was prosecuted and sentenced under a misdemeanor charge, and got the max the charge allowed. I don't know if an Alford plea was entered or not.

I forgot to mention that Dave LeRoy was Hall's defense counsel... he's looking old these days, and didn't have much to say in court. Hall disagreed with some of the victim's testimony, but it looked like parsing to me.

Bonneville County is rapidly losing it's powerful old guard Repubs. The local Central Committee is in some territorial pissings with Shiela Olsen and Kathy Stanger, both long-time party activists. Olsen's late husband was the State Repub Chairman for years before his death. The disagreement stems from the recent local election. Larry Lyon is quite active now, and is one of the local CC.

Dane Watkins Jr. seems to have no desire for higher office at present, but if he is, he will have his father's reputation to contend with. Watkins Sr. was once an Idaho Senator who lost re-election after voting against local farmers in a water use dispute, and was briefly infamous for 'tabling' a critical bill by hiding it in the trunk of his car.

Tom Loertscher seems to be the last of the old guard who isn't in trouble right now. He's from Iona, a small town about 5 miles from Idaho Falls, and is one of the most rabid conservatives in the state legislature.

...with a link to the Statesman's PDF on the police reports.

Hall, and/or his 'surrogate' son, dropped a total of 19 used condoms and an empty box on the now-married girlfriend's driveway. Hall was non-responding until the police lab collected samples for DNA testing. Since he pled guilty, no DNA testing was recommended. Hufpo's responses were mostly very creeped out with that tidbit.

And, as always, Idaho another black eye.

I have a buddy who grew up with Blake. He always said Hall was the kind of kid who should have been pantsed and thrown in the canal.

I SO hope that asshole violates parole (in some non-harmful way to his victim) and goes to jail for the full 6 months.

No one should be surprised at this. Blake Hall was dating a married woman who was sneaking around with him. Allison Chambers is no better than him.

This is just a case of two low class, moral-less people. Blake Hall acted like an idiot and Allison Chambers is enjoying all the attention she is getting.

I hope this is done and over with soon and get those two peas in a pod where they belong, in the sewer.

for the record: She was married to her first husband while dating Blake Hall, the first husband divorced her after finding out about Blake Hall, and she was remarried to Dr Chambers a month after her divorce was final.

This woman is obsessed with Blake's affair. She has been carrying on like this on Idaho Falls Today for a month now. Do not feed the troll.