Battery case against Kellogg man dismissed
By JOSH MCDONALD
Staff Reporter
WALLACE — The Shoshone County prosecutor’s office announced Wednesday that the battery charges in the state of Idaho versus Ryan Rickets had been dismissed.
The charges stemmed from a fight that took place between Rickets and Gerad Crawford in early July 2016. The prosecuting attorney’s office had been working with the Kellogg Police Department on an investigation of Rickets following the death of Crawford 17 days later.
Initially after the fight, Rickets had been charged with battery, but was upgraded to aggravated battery after it was discovered that Crawford had some of his teeth knocked out during the fight.
Following Crawford’s passing, the case sat in limbo until an autopsy could show whether or not the injuries Crawford sustained during the fight contributed to his untimely death.
After receiving results in September, the Shoshone County prosecuting attorney’s office decided not to upgrade Rickets’ charges from aggravated battery to manslaughter.
Wednesday’s determinations were announced two hours before Rickets’ pretrial conference was set to begin at the Shoshone County Court House.
The Shoshone County prosecuting attorney released the following statement regarding the situation:
“In consideration of newly discovered information requiring additional investigation and consultation with experts, State of Idaho v Ryan Rickets was dismissed without prejudice on February 14, 2018. The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney will conduct a second review of the case once this additional investigation is completed in order to make a refiling decision.”
The News-Press reached out to the prosecutors office for more information, but received none before press time.
No further information about this secondary investigation has been released either, but a family member close to Rickets has speculated that the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence.
The Shoshone News-Press will provide updates on this story if and when it develops.