The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
46°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Deal sets mom free

Kendra Goodrick gets a hug from her aunt, Marcie Black, in the Kootenai County Justice Building last month. Goodrick, who was later ordered to serve the rest of her prison sentence, was released Friday. (File / The Spokesman-Review)
Taryn Brodwater Staff writer
Kendra Goodrick gets a hug from her aunt, Marcie Black, in the Kootenai County Justice Building last month. Goodrick, who was later ordered to serve the rest of her prison sentence, was released Friday. (File / The Spokesman-Review)

A Hayden woman was released from jail and reunited with her husband and baby boy Friday after a settlement was reached in Kootenai County court.

Kendra Goodrick, a recovering meth addict and new mother, was ordered back to prison in July after 1 1/2 years of trouble-free probation because Idaho’s Court of Appeals ruled 1st District Judge John Mitchell waited too long to place her on probation. Contributing to the judge’s delay: Goodrick’s attorney had waited too long to make the request for probation.

The appeals court’s ruling sparked a legal battle that culminated in Friday’s agreement and Goodrick’s release.

“I think this is the end of a long ordeal,” said Val Siegel, a Kootenai County deputy public defender who represented Goodrick.

Mitchell on Friday granted Goodrick’s petition for post-conviction relief on the grounds that Siegel didn’t file the motion on time, leading to the appeals court ruling. After granting Goodrick’s petition, Mitchell gave her the same sentence as he did in 2005: 14 years for charges of possession of meth with the intent to deliver. Mitchell placed her on probation Friday, just as he did after she had served more than a year of her original sentence.

Friday’s agreement also settled a number of other legal issues in Goodrick’s case and negated an appeal the Idaho attorney general’s office filed earlier this week.

If Goodrick, 29, doesn’t violate the terms of her probation, she will remain free.

“She is happy and relieved,” Siegel said Friday. “She’s been through a lot.”

Not long after an unscheduled hearing Friday, Idaho’s Department of Corrections was informed of the court’s decision. Goodrick’s husband, Anthony Martinez, made the hours-long drive to Adams County to pick her up from county jail where she was being held because of overcrowding at the state prison.

Until recently, she had been jailed in Kootenai County and pumping breast milk that her husband fed to the baby.

Martinez and Goodrick could not be reached for comment Friday.

Kootenai County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Marty Raap said he approached Siegel with the proposal before the July hearing when Goodrick was taken into custody. Two days ago, Siegel called Raap and said they were interested in the deal.

“Mr. Siegel was basically willing to fall on his sword and say, ‘I, in effect, failed Ms. Goodrick because I did not file the motion in a timely fashion,’ ” Raap said.

Goodrick’s case led to vocal debate in the community over compassion versus incarceration.

Raap said the legal issues in the case were difficult for many to understand. He said the prosecutor’s office was simply following the law – and the direction of the Court of Appeals.

Both Raap and Siegel said they were happy with Friday’s agreement.

“It’s resolved now and it makes sense,” Raap said.