Judge Robert J. Elgee has quashed David L. Santistevan's bid for a new trial in the 2004 shootings of two Bellevue teenagers.
In a ruling issued on May 5, Elgee dismissed a post-conviction relief petition, wherein Santistevan claimed that he didn't receive a fair trial when convicted by a Blaine County jury of two counts of second-degree attempted murder. Santistevan was asking the court for a new trial or to have the convictions overturned.
In dismissing the petition, Elgee rejected Santistevan's claims that there was insufficient evidence for a guilty verdict, that a biased juror was impaneled, that self-defense claims were not duly considered, that a key witness committed perjury, that jury instructions were unconstitutional and that Santistevan had ineffective legal counsel.
A Blaine County jury convicted Santistevan in December 2004 for the shootings that March 29 of teenagers Tyrel Peak and John Marshal Hooten in the alley behind the Silver Dollar Saloon in Bellevue. In April 2005, Elgee sentenced Santistevan to 35 years in prison.
Santistevan, now 53, is an inmate at the Idaho state penitentiary in Boise. He is not eligible for parole until March 30, 2026.
< <
"On behalf of Marshall Hooten and Tyrel Peak, I am pleased that the judge has rejected David Santistevan's false claims, which now closes the book on Santistevan's attempt to have the jury's verdict overturned," Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thomas stated in an e-mail to the Idaho Mountain Express on Tuesday. "Justice has prevailed and the victims can now begin to close this tragic chapter of their lives, which was so violently interrupted by the defendant's actions that fateful night."
Santistevan was defended at trial by Hailey attorneys Keith Roark and Douglas Nelson.
Hailey attorney Cheri Hicks was appointed by the court to represent Santistevan in post-conviction relief proceedings.
"I haven't heard from my client yet, but I expect the decision to be appealed," Hicks said Monday.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
David L. Santistevan
