Seatz pleads guilty to aggravated battery

WALLACE –– Owen Seatz pleaded guilty to aggravated battery at his felony arraignment at Shoshone County Courthouse earlier this week. 

Seatz, 23, was initially charged with a single count of battery with intent to commit a serious felony, domestic battery without traumatic injury, and resisting or obstructing a public officer.

These charges all stemmed from an incident in January of this year where Seatz shot his girlfriend, Arika Gilmore, while she was attempting to gain entry to their shared residence in Kellogg. 

The parties had agreed to mediation, where Seatz agreed to plead guilty and in exchange the State would drop the remaining charges and the court retain jurisdiction in the matter. 

The agreement, which was entered under Idaho Criminal Rule 11(F), which stipulated the retained jurisdiction and that any sentence from the judge run concurrent with a sentence in a separate case involving Seatz. 

A week before the shooting, Seatz had pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine. He had been arrested in November of last year after a search warrant was executed at the same Kellogg residence. That plea was part of a deal from the State, that dropped two other drug charges and recommended a suspended seven-year sentence. He had been released on bond awaiting his sentencing that was originally scheduled for this month.

Unlike other plea agreements where the judge can follow the recommendation of the State when sentencing, the Rule 11(F) agreement binds the court to follow the agreement if they accept the plea. 

Shoshone County Deputy Prosecutor Britney Jacobs explained how the retained jurisdiction works, specifically in a case like this one. 

According to Jacobs, retained jurisdiction is a quasi-prison sentence. The Idaho Department of Corrections typically places the inmate into treatment in the final months prior to any parole hearing, however, in a retained jurisdiction, the individual goes to IDOC only for that programming. It can include substance abuse treatment, and other treatment courses, and can work on job service training, or obtaining a GED. It is a structured environment that keeps offenders in custody while doing so, maintaining community safety in doing so.

“He and his attorney believed that the underlying issues with Seatz were related to substance and mental health issues, so he is being given the opportunity to prove to the court that these concerns are the reason for his criminal activity, and by addressing them, he will be law-abiding in the future,” Jacobs said after the hearing. “The trade-off with Mr. Seatz is that the state is able to argue for a lengthy underlying prison sentence, so if he does not complete the retained jurisdiction or violates his probation if he is released after the programming, would likely see a significant time in custody for his actions.” 

The typical penalty for aggravated battery is a 15-year sentence, but the deadly weapon enhancement tacks on an additional 15 years. 

The State’s recommendation for sentencing in this matter is an 18-year sentence with eight years fixed and 10 indeterminate. 

“On the back end, the court still maintains the ability to send the individual to prison at the end of their programming if they did not successfully complete it or if the court believes the crime itself was so serious in nature that the prison sentence would be more appropriate,” Jacobs stated. 

Seatz’s sentencing has been scheduled for June 3, at 10 a.m.