A second trial has been scheduled in Blaine County 5th District Court for a Hailey man accused of battering his estranged wife.
The first trial for 45-year-old Filiberto Solis-Vidal ended in a mistrial in December when a jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision. The case is now set for a new trial on May 11.
"We take domestic violence very seriously and believe that batterers should be held accountable," Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thomas said Thursday in explaining why a second trial is being held. "We feel obligated to continue to pursue this case given the facts as we understand them to be."
Solis-Vidal is charged with domestic battery with traumatic injury, a felony, for allegedly hurting his wife during an altercation at his home on Woodside Boulevard on July 6.
According to testimony at the first trial, which began Dec. 15, Solis-Vidal and the woman were separated when she came to his home with concerns about their children, who were then staying with him. Testimony indicated that the confrontation became heated and that the woman suffered a concussion, swelling over her eyes and a cut in the middle of her forehead.
The prosecuting attorney's office alleged that Solis-Vidal pushed the woman's head into a wall, while defense attorney Michael Kraynick argued that if the woman was injured, it happened when she fell and was not the fault of his client.
The case went to the jury late in the afternoon of Dec. 16. The jury deliberated for about an hour that day and another hour the following day before informing Judge Robert J. Elgee that it could not reach a unanimous decision and was unlikely to do so. Elgee then declared a mistrial.
According to court records, Solis-Vidal filed to divorce the woman on July 17. That case is still pending in court.
Court records further state that Solis-Vidal was not born in the United States but is now a U.S. citizen. He remains free on $10,000 bond.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Filiberto Solis-Vidal
