A change of venue has been granted in a misdemeanor telephone harassment charge against Christopher D. Pothier, a man who has claimed to be a "prophet for Jesus" and who was previously charged with beating his girlfriend.
A two-day trial on the harassment charge is scheduled to begin in Twin Falls on Dec. 10. The change of venue was granted Tuesday in Blaine County Magistrate Court on a motion filed by Pothier's public defender, Hailey attorney Douglas Werth.
"In my opinion, a fair and impartial jury cannot be impaneled in Blaine County given the widespread and unfair publicity in this case," Werth wrote in court affidavit.
Werth cited 36 stories published by the Idaho Mountain Express or the Wood River Journal that he claimed are prejudicial against his client.
The stories mainly discussed two other criminal cases against Pothier in which he was accused of violence against his girlfriend, 27-year-old Sandee Byington of Hailey. Charges in both cases, one filed in summer 2007 and the second last April, were dismissed after Byington recanted previous statements or testimony regarding the allegations against Pothier.
The telephone harassment charge, which is also applicable to e-mail correspondence, was filed in July following an investigation by Sheriff's Detective Steve Harkins. The charge alleges that Pothier sent e-mail messages intended to "annoy, terrify, threaten, intimidate, harass or offend" to a former friend who lives in Hailey. Harkins alleged in a probable-cause affidavit that Pothier sent the four e-mails on July 17-18.
"Something is being prepared that is going to strike the fear of God into you, and you will be sorry you ever spoke the things you have against me," Pothier allegedly wrote in one of the e-mails. "You have been warned. Hailey has let loose on the streets a terrorist for Jesus, and no one is apparently strong enough to stop him. All of Hailey should be afraid—it's coming."
Pothier has claimed to a 'prophet for Jesus' in literature he delivered or faxed to the Idaho Mountain Express. Though Pothier previously lived in Hailey, he is last known to have been staying with family in Twin Falls.
