Homeless CDA man charged in stabbing case

COEUR D’ALENE — A magistrate judge says there’s enough evidence to justify a felony aggravated battery charge against a 56-year-old homeless northern Idaho man. Magistrate Eugene Marano bound James Kountz over to 1st District Court after a preliminary hearing on Thursday. Prosecutors say Kountz stabbed another homeless man several times at a campsite near Coeur d’Alene. The Coeur d’Alene Press reports that James Hoglen told the magistrate he was in a confrontation with a third man when Kountz came after him with two knives. Hoglen, who had four stab wounds to his abdomen and another to his face, managed to reach U.S. Highway 95, where he collapsed on a median. He spent six days in the hospital for his injuries.