A 33-year-old Ketchum man convicted twice of misdemeanor DUI in Blaine County in 2011 pleaded not guilty May 7 to a new felony DUI charge.
Matthew Bradley Connor entered his plea in Blaine County 5th District Court, and Judge Robert Elgee scheduled a jury trial to begin July 24.
Connor is also charged with the misdemeanor crime of driving on a suspended license in connection with his Feb. 4 arrest by Sun Valley police.
He is currently free on $2,500 bond. He is represented by the Roark Law Firm under the firm's public defender contract with Blaine County.
Connor was charged with a felony in his latest arrest because of a provision of Idaho law that provides that a person convicted of two misdemeanor DUI offenses within the past 10 years can be charged with a felony upon a third arrest.
Court records state that Connor was convicted on two misdemeanor counts of DUI in November 2011. One count was for an arrest by Ketchum police on Aug. 4, 2011, and the other for an arrest, also by Ketchum police, on Aug. 19, 2011.
His latest arrest occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 4 in the parking lot at the Elkhorn Fire Station. Sun Valley Patrol Officer Conar Cunningham wrote in a probable-cause affidavit that he was stationed in his patrol vehicle in the parking lot when Connor drove in and parked beside him. Cunningham wrote that he questioned Connor about why he was in the parking lot at that hour, smelled alcohol on him and placed him under arrest after he failed three field sobriety tests.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Matthew Bradley Connor
