Judge refuses guilty plea for Colville homicide

Tuesday, August 28, 2007  

A federal judge refused to accept a guilty plea from a man who admitted to involuntary manslaughter on the Colville Reservation in Washington.

Judge Robert Whaley called James H. Gallaher Jr.'s plea "odd." He said it would have required him to sentence Gallaher for manslaughter, even though the five year statute of limitations for that crime already passed, The Spokesman Review reported.

Gallaher had agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter in order to avoid a first-degree murder charge. He would have been allowed to appeal certain legal issues.

Edwin "Eddy" Pooler was killed on the reservation in December 2005 but no body was ever found.

Get the Story:
Judge rejects 'odd' guilty plea in homicide (The Spokesman Review 8/28)

$rl Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation - http://www.colvilletribes.com