A plea agreement has reportedly been reached in a criminal case against a former Ketchum man who is accused of stabbing two brothers during a fight behind a Hailey bar last September.
The agreement with defendant Ricardo O. McQueen, a 30-year-old Bahamian native, was reached only a few days before trial, which was scheduled to start Tuesday, June 12, in 5th District Court in Hailey.
Terms of the agreement were not publicly available Tuesday. He was originally charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery.
The case against McQueen stems from a fight around 2 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2006, behind The Mint Nightclub and Billiards Hall on Main Street in Hailey. McQueen allegedly stabbed brothers Rodrigo Herrara, 29, and Pier Herrara, 24, both of Hailey, during the altercation.
Court records indicate that Ketchum defense attorney Brian Elkins planned to offer a self-defense strategy in defending his client.
In a motion filed with the court, Elkins alleged that the Herrara brothers have a past history of aggressive and violent behavior. He pointed out that they are suspects in the severe beating of another man at The Mint on Jan. 28.
That case, in which a 29-year-old Pocatello man suffered a broken lower left leg and severe facial lacerations, was referred by the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to the Idaho Attorney General since it represented a potential conflict of interest.
Attorney General's Office spokesman Bob Cooper confirmed Tuesday that the Herrara brothers are suspects in the beating and that the matter is still being investigated.
Elkins had been picking away at the prosecution case against McQueen during the past few months. In March, he successfully argued before the court that his client was arrested following an "unlawful vehicle stop" and that evidence obtained from the stop was inadmissible.
Elkins argued that a Ketchum police officer made the stop only "because the passenger was a black man," which was only part of the description of McQueen broadcast on police radios following the altercation at The Mint.
Lost to the prosecution were McQueen's statements and physical evidence gathered at the time of his arrest.
No new court hearings had been set as of Tuesday morning. Scheduling is more complicated than usual because McQueen now lives in Florida and the case is being heard by District Court Judge John K. Butler, who normally presides in Jerome County.
Butler is the third district court judge to have the case. Blaine County Judge Robert J. Elgee removed himself as presiding judge in December because of a disqualification motion filed by Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thomas. The case was then assigned to 5th District Administrative Judge Barry Wood, who stepped down from the case later in December on a disqualification motion filed by Elkins.
Ricardo O. McQueen
