A singe felony case was heard in Custer County District Court on Thursday, November 2 regarding an alleged domestic assault and subsequent charges following an alleged violation of a protection order.
Kyle Martin, 30 of Broken Bow, appeared in court for a hearing on a motion to withdraw council. Martin filed paperwork with the court to request a different court-appointed council as he was not comfortable with Matthew Furrow representing him in the case. Furrow, who is an associate attorney with Borders Law Office and works for the Public Defender Michael Borders, has been working with Borders for some time and recently passed the Nebraska Bar allowing him to practice in Nebraska.
District Judge Karin Noakes informed Martin that if he requests a court-appointed attorney, he does not get to choose which attorney represents him. Martin agreed and stated that after a conversation with Furrow he was informed that if the case would go to trial, both Borders and Furrow would represent him which he was fine with. Judge Noakes overruled the motion and Borders and Furrow will remain as Martin’s attorneys’.
A bond review was also heard as Martin is currently jailed on a 10% of $50,000 bond on alleged charges of tampering with a witness (Class IV felony) and stalking (Class I misdemeanor). Borders stated his client would like the bond to be reduced to allow him to get a job and earn money to care for his child. Borders also indicated Martin would like to seek out a therapist to talk about some of the issues he was having.
Borders argued the bond was too high and that he was arrested after he was driving around the victim’s place of work when witnesses began to freak out. He continued that Martin has no funds to post a high bond and knows if he violated any of the court’s decisions he could be held without any bond.
Deputy County Attorney Kayla Haberstick argued she does not believe the conditions have changed as he allegedly tried to contact the victim and also allegedly violated the protection order. She said the victim would be in great danger if he is released.
Judge Noakes stated the court takes domestic violence very seriously and ordered the bond remain the same at 10% of $50,000.
Martin is currently charged with alleged 2nd-degree domestic assault (Class IIIA felony), 1st-degree domestic assault (Class II felony), tampering with a witness (Class II felony), and stalking (Class I misdemeanor). His cases are currently set for trial to begin February 7, 2022, at 9 AM. If found guilty of all charges, Martin could be sentenced to 2-104 years in prison and be fined up to $11,000. A pretrial hearing is also scheduled for January 20, 2022, at 10 AM.
