Accused Mullan shooter dismisses attorney ahead of jury trial

WALLACE — In Monday’s Law Day at the Wallace Court House, Judge Scott Wayman addressed close to 20 different criminal cases. As with previous Law Days in Shoshone County, much of the day’s docket involved drug and violent crimes.

One of the cases that involved both types of charges was that of 50-year-old Kurt Allen Morozko, who is being charged with three counts of unlawfully discharging a weapon at an occupied building and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

The charges against Morozko stem from his arrest on Jan. 11, 2018, where he was taken into custody following a traffic stop for allegedly firing guns into and at several homes in the Mullan area over the course of several weeks.

Law enforcement officials with the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office and the Osburn Police Department initially planned to execute a search warrant on his home — believed to be where the shots were coming from — that day, then take him into custody following the discovery of evidence linking him to the shootings. Due to unforeseen circumstances though, that plan played out in reverse.

Prior to the search of his home, Sheriff Mike Gunderson conducted a traffic stop in Mullan, realized that it was the suspect and detained him. SCSO Undersheriff Holly Lindsey told the News-Press that Morozko exhibited “noncooperative behavior at first, but complied shortly after the contact.”

To begin his Nov. 26 pre-trail conference at Law Day, Judge Wayman first acknowledged that Morozko’s attorney, Douglas Dwight Phelps, had filed a motion to withdraw.

It was apparent that this motion was spurred by Morozko, who believed that Phelps had not been properly representing him and had not been filing motions he wanted filed.

“He may withdraw. I already submitted that to the court in writing on Oct. 26,” Morozko stated to Wayman. “I’ll be representing myself, per se.”

Following the state’s decision to remain silent on the issue, Wayman granted Phelps’ motion to withdraw.

Once this was granted, Wayman then walked Morozko through the advantages of having a lawyer.

“They (lawyers) have experience in the court room. They can call witnesses and present evidence on your behalf. They can assist in jury selection,” Wayman stated. “Lawyers generally have a good sense of who would be a good juror. A lawyer can advise you of the harm or consequences of what you may say in court.”

“A lawyer can also object to questions that the state may present improperly,” he added.

Behaving moderately confrontational, Morozko argued with the judge that it was his right to defend himself, citing the Constitution and state law.

“You may represent yourself, that is true,” Wayman said. “But you are not a lawyer, are you?”

“I don’t need to be,” Morozko replied. “The Constitution is quite clear.”

For the reminder of Morozko’s time in court, Wayman outlined the potential disadvantages of not having representation and established if the defendant was of sound mind to defend himself.

“If you choose to represent yourself, you won’t get any special treatment from the court,” he said. “In other words, you will be expected to follow the rules of procedure… You’ll have to follow all of the same laws that took the lawyers years to learn and understand.”

Morazko would attempt to dispute the speediness of his trial and argued that he would be put at a disadvantage due to him not having any resources while in jail.

Wayman partially agreed by saying, ”because you are in custody, you are restricted in the resources you have access to and a lawyer has less restrictions when it comes to investigating for your defense.”

After a brief retort from the prosecuting attorney, Keisha Oxendine, in which she stated that any pre-trial settlement offer was now off the table, Wayman allowed Morozko to represent himself at his upcoming jury trial.

Each of Morozko’s unlawful discharge of a weapon charges carries a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. His two controlled substance charges each carry a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Morozko’s jury trial has been set for Dec. 11 at 9 a.m.