Ada County Republican wants sentence reduced for ‘friend’ who protested political opponent
An Ada County commissioner asked a judge to reduce the sentence of a friend who was sent to jail for protesting and disturbing the peace outside the home of the commissioner’s political opponent.
Republican Ryan Davidson, who represents District 1, submitted a letter to 4th District Court on Dec. 12 asking for Robert Jones’ sentence to be reconsidered, according to court documents obtained through a public records request by the Idaho Statesman.
Jones was arrested in December 2020 after he protested outside the home of Diana Lachiondo, a Democratic Ada County commissioner who sat on the Central District Health board. The protest occurred while Lachiondo attended a meeting to discuss whether to impose public health restrictions, such as a mask mandate, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Davidson defeated Lachiondo in the District 1 race in November 2020.
Jones in September was sentenced to six months in jail, the maximum allowed on a misdemeanor disturbing the peace offense. Before the sentence was issued, Jones was offered an unsupervised probation term, which he declined, according to court records filed by the Boise city attorney.
Davidson’s letter said that he has known Jones since 2008 and is a friend.
“I believe he has a good heart and stands up for what he believes in,” the letter reads. “While the jury found that his conduct crossed the line, I believe he was motivated by a sincere conviction in trying to correct what he perceived to be an injustice foisted upon the people of Ada County.
“At the end of the day, he was trying to petition his government for a redress of grievances. As we move past this difficult time in our country’s history dealing with COVID and the overreaching policies that went along with it, I believe now is the time — especially during the Christmas season — for forgiveness and reconciliation.”
Davidson did not respond to a request for comment.
Jones is an associate of Ammon Bundy, the far-right former gubernatorial candidate who has been convicted of trespassing in Idaho multiple times. Jones has also protested Idaho’s child protection services, and was an agitator in a recent child welfare case, according to a video Bundy posted on YouTube. The case resulted in a lawsuit from St. Luke’s Health System against Bundy, who has refused to appear in court and respond.
Since Jones’ conviction, Bundy’s group, the People’s Rights Network, has held demonstrations at the Ada County Courthouse.
Jones has appealed his conviction, his attorney, Johannes Claus III, told the Statesman. In a ruling earlier this month, Magistrate Judge Susan Clark denied Jones’ effort to have his sentence reconsidered, and declared that she did not have the authority to do so while the sentence was being appealed, Claus said.
Clark also denied a second motion to postpone Jones’ sentence while it is appealed, because of his past convictions of disturbing the peace, according to Claus.
“I have not seen any other case where someone has been put in jail for 180 days for a nonviolent misdemeanor,” Claus said. “There are those of us who think it is overly harsh and is intended to produce a chilling effect to other folks wanting to protest state agencies or actions.”
Public health measures draw protests
During the fall of 2020, local health leaders had warned that hospitals were on the brink of implementing crisis standards of care, which could have put doctors in the position of rationing care to those most likely to survive. Vaccines were not yet available, and Idaho was facing its largest case surge yet, with close to 1,100 deaths.
During the Dec. 8 board meeting, hundreds of protesters against public health measures gathered at the Central District Health offices, and groups of other protesters went to the homes of at least three board members, including Lachiondo, according to previous Statesman reporting.
During the December 2020 meeting, a tearful Lachiondo, who was at the Ada County Courthouse, said she needed to leave because protesters were outside her house, where her sons — then ages 12 and 8 — were home with her mother, who had left briefly to take their dog outside for a walk.
“My son called me in tears at the beginning of last night’s meeting,” Lachiondo wrote in a Facebook post the next day. She said that the protesters were armed and “yelling, banging, firing air horns, amplifying sound clips from ‘Scarface,’ accusing me of tyranny and cowering inside.”
The criminal complaint filed against Jones accused him of making “loud or unusual noise and/or tumultuous or offensive conduct (like) ... blowing air horns, honking car horns, and screaming.”
Dr. Ted Epperly, a physician member of the board at the time, later told the Statesman that about 15 protesters were outside his home during the meeting, which he attended remotely.
The protesters were “beating garbage cans and flashing strobe lights through my windows. Two came up and knocked on my door during the meeting,” Epperly said at the time.
The meeting ended at the request of Mayor Lauren McLean and Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee, as the protests were becoming difficult to manage, according to previous Statesman reporting.
“There is an ugliness and cruelty in our national rhetoric that is reaching a fevered pitch here at home,” Lachiondo said in her post, “and that should worry us all.”
Gov. Brad Little later called protesting at the homes of public officials “reprehensible” and a “bullying tactic” meant to “intimidate and scare others” in a post on Twitter.
State Rep. Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, House majority leader and a representative on the health board from Elmore County, said in a radio interview that protesting at the homes of officials was “totally unacceptable,” according to previous Statesman reporting.
Davidson asks for Bundy accommodations
In March 2021, Davidson asked an Ada County magistrate judge to make accommodations for Bundy. At the time, Bundy was not attending his courtroom hearings in an Idaho Capitol trespassing case because he refused to wear a mask, in violation of court orders.
Davidson asked the judge whether Bundy could be allowed inside with no mask.
The Idaho attorney general’s office investigated Davidson’s actions after receiving a complaint. The office found that he did not break the law, but called his effort “disconcerting.”
In a letter three months later, Deputy Attorney General Colleen Zahn said her office would not “condone” Davidson’s actions.
“This office is unaware of any rule that would allow a county commissioner to involve himself in a pending criminal case, regardless of his motivations,” the letter stated. “Moreover, such actions put a judge presiding over a case in a difficult position given the judge’s obligations under the Idaho Code of Judicial Conduct.”
Zahn said the attorney general’s office would “suggest” to Ada County Prosecuting Attorney Jan Bennetts’ office that Davidson “receive training on how and when he can properly communicate with the judiciary and the need to avoid even the appearance of impropriety in court proceedings.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2022 at 12:44 PM.
