Idaho man broke his hand in prison, said IDOC refused care. He pleaded guilty to battery
An Idaho prisoner who argued that he was retaliated against for speaking to the Idaho Statesman has accepted a plea deal for the latest felony charge filed against him.
Bobby Templin — whose hand was fractured in prison two years ago — admitted Tuesday afternoon to hitting a correctional officer during a January 2023 fight at the Idaho State Correctional Center. In exchange for pleading guilty to felony battery against a correctional officer, the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office agreed to drop an additional persistent violator enhancement — which would have kept the 34-year-old in prison for at least five more years. It can carry up to a life sentence.
That enhancement can be added by prosecutors once someone has been convicted of three felonies, even if they are not violent crimes. Templin’s only other felony convictions are for possession of a controlled substance and grand theft, court records showed.
“I really apologize for my actions,” Templin, who still wears a brace on his right hand, said in court.
Templin’s thumb was fractured in January 2023 following the fight and records showed that, despite continual pleas for help, the Idaho Department of Correction wouldn’t take him to see a specialist for six months. An expert said delaying surgery could cause permanent damage.
Two months after the Statesman featured Templin in an article, prosecutors charged him with felony battery — something Templin’s attorney called suspect. Mike French, a Boise-based attorney, argued in court filings 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.
But 4th District Judge Cynthia Yee-Wallace disagreed. In October she denied Templin’s request to toss his criminal case.
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,” and that the decision to charge Templin wasn’t because he spoke to the Statesman about the medical care.
“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.
Throughout the roughly 10-minute hearing Tuesday, Yee-Wallace probed Templin with a series of questions to confirm he understood his rights and that he was giving up the chance to take his case to trial.
“After all that, do you still want to plead guilty?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Templin replied.
The fight, which broke out in a housing unit at the Idaho State Correctional Center two years ago, included more than a dozen men, including Templin. Officers told the men to stop fighting, but when the fight didn’t stop the correctional officers used “physical control” and “chemical munitions,” according to an IDOC disciplinary report. When one officer went to detain Templin, the officer was struck in the head.
The prosecution would have had to prove at trial that Templin should have known or had reason to know that the man was an officer when Templin struck him. Templin previously said that he didn’t realize the man was an officer during the chaos of the fight but admitted in court Tuesday to hitting the man in the head. The officer wasn’t injured and didn’t require any medical attention.
“I had every intent of hitting anyone that came close to me,” Templin said in court Tuesday as he described the fight. The officer “came up behind me, I reached back with the full intent of getting that person off my back.”
“I should have known that it was an officer,” he added.
For now, Templin is still in custody at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution — where he’s been housed since the incident. His prison sentence for the possession conviction ends in mid-February, so he’ll be released to the Ada County Jail where he’ll be held on a $20,000 bond until he’s sentenced for the battery unless he posts bail.
French asked that, as a part of the evaluation done for sentencing, Templin have his mental health evaluated because of his prolonged solitary confinement. Templin was released to the maximum security prison’s general population toward the end of November after nearly two years in isolation.
“I spent 668 days in isolation after this incident,“ Templin said in court. “I’m doing much better but during that time I did have quite the struggle that I’m still dealing with today.”
His sentencing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. March 25 at the Ada County Courthouse.
This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
CORRECTION: A previous headline misstated when Templin’s hand was broken. It was after the fight.
