Criminal charges have been dismissed against Christopher D. Pothier, a Hailey man who was accused of abducting and raping his former girlfriend.
The order to dismiss was signed last Friday by 5th District Court Magistrate Judge Jason Walker in accord with a dismissal motion filed the day before by Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thomas.
"The victim is unwilling to proceed and has in fact recanted a number of her original allegations, which make successful prosecution of this case impossible," Thomas wrote in the motion to dismiss.
The alleged victim, a 26-year-old Hailey woman, notified Thomas in a letter to the court that she would not testify against Pothier at a preliminary hearing that was scheduled for Friday, Aug. 17.
"The allegations were blown out of proportion and just kept growing bigger and bigger until I had no control of it," she wrote.
(The woman's name is not being used because of the Idaho Mountain Express' policy of not publicizing the names of victims or alleged victims in sex crime cases.)
The case against 29-year-old Pothier originated on June 22 when Hailey police received a report that the woman had been abducted and assaulted by Pothier and raped at his home on Winter Fox Lane in southeast Hailey.
Hailey police reported early in the case that Pothier had been romantically involved with the woman, but that she had recently broken up with him and was seeing someone else.
Pothier was arrested later that evening and ultimately charged with five felonies: rape, first-degree kidnapping, battery with intent to commit a serious felony, forcible sexual penetration by use of a foreign object and destruction of evidence.
Pothier was free on $100,000 bond awaiting further court proceedings when the order to dismiss was signed.
Thomas filed his motion "to dismiss without prejudice," which leaves the door open for charges to be filed again in the matter if circumstances change or new evidence is found.
"Although the State is extremely reluctant to see this case dismissed, as it believes the defendant's actions in the case suggest that he remains a potential concern to the community, dismissal would serve the effective administration of the court's business," Thomas further wrote in his motion.
Pothier's former girlfriend wrote in her letter that she does not believe that Pothier is a threat to either her or the community.
"I believe Christopher is a good man who really strives to be a good person," she wrote. "He is the most devout, God-fearing person I've met."
The letter continues: "I don't want to go into details of what occurred the day of the alleged crime on June 22, 2007. Maybe there were mistakes that were made. However, Christopher is not a criminal. He has a large, good family, of which he is the oldest, and wholly seeks to support them.
"I hope a good man is not sent somewhere where he cannot help his family or this community in which he is certainly not a threat."
Pothier could not be reached for comment.
Hailey attorney Douglas Nelson, who defended Pothier, declined to comment on the dismissal, other than to say that the motion to dismiss speaks for itself.
Christopher D. Pothier
