Mother deemed eligible for parole

Kendra Goodrick is eligible for parole, but the Hayden woman must wait more than four months before she gets a hearing before the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole.

Goodrick, 29, is scheduled to appear before the commission in December, Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray said Tuesday. Meanwhile, her attorneys are pursuing another avenue to have her freed.

Kootenai County Deputy Public Defender Val Siegel on Tuesday filed a petition for post-conviction relief – a civil lawsuit asking 1st District Judge John Mitchell to again place Goodrick on probation.

The recovering meth addict and new mother is caught in the middle of a legal dispute between Mitchell and the Kootenai County prosecutor’s office. Mitchell placed Goodrick on probation in January 2006, but prosecutors appealed on the grounds that the judge didn’t make that ruling in time. The Idaho Court of Appeals agreed and ordered Goodrick, who married and gave birth during the 1 1/2 years she was on probation, to return to prison.

In a July 19 hearing, Goodrick asked that the months she spent on probation be credited toward her prison sentence for convictions of possession of meth with intent to deliver. During that hearing, Kootenai County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Marty Raap told Mitchell the judge no longer had authority over the case.

Mitchell disagreed and said he would take Goodrick’s motion under consideration. At the end of the hearing, the Idaho Department of Correction took Goodrick into custody as her infant son cried in the hallway outside the courtroom. The following day, Mitchell ruled that Goodrick’s time on probation should be counted and that she had fulfilled her sentence. Ray said the Department of Correction has made that calculation and that Goodrick is now eligible for parole.

It will be up to the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole, following the December hearing, to determine whether Goodrick will be released. Olivia Craven, executive director of Pardons and Parole, did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday. Raap also could not be reached for comment.

The civil suit filed Tuesday is another attempt by Goodrick’s attorney to have her released sooner.

Siegel said prosecutors will have 30 days to respond to the petition.

A hearing then could be scheduled before Mitchell.

Goodrick remains in the Kootenai County Jail but will be transferred to the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center, Siegel said. “It’s just a question of when that occurs,” he said.