In brief: Judge rules mother fulfilled sentence

First District Judge John Mitchell ruled Friday that Kendra Goodrick, of Hayden, has fulfilled her jail sentence for meth delivery charges. But Goodrick, 29, remains in the Kootenai County Jail in the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction, unsure whether she’ll be released or sent back to prison after all.

Goodrick, the mother of a 3-month-old boy, is caught in a legal tug-of-war between Mitchell, who says she should go free, and the Kootenai County prosecutor’s office, which maintains the judge no longer has sentencing authority in the case. The state Court of Appeals has found that Mitchell waited too long to place Goodrick on probation and has ordered her back to prison.

In his Friday ruling, Mitchell granted Goodrick credit for time served from the point he placed her on probation on Jan. 26, 2006, to when she was taken back into custody Thursday – 540 days in all.

The time should be counted toward her jail sentence, the judge reasoned, because Goodrick was released from custody and placed on probation as a result of the court’s error.

In other words, because she was not legally released from jail, her probation should count as jail time, Mitchell concluded.

“It would make absolutely no sense for a woman who has successfully addressed her addiction, had a drug- free child while on probation, to have to return to prison to finish a sentence that was based upon a need at the time for drug treatment,” Mitchell wrote.

Scott Maben

Police arrest 2, seize marijuana in drug raid

The North Idaho Regional Violent Crimes Task Force arrested two men Thursday on charges of trafficking marijuana in Coeur d’Alene.

The arrests were the result of an investigation spanning about four months and also involving cocaine trafficking, the Coeur d’Alene Police Department said.

Officers seized 5 pounds of suspected marijuana in Coeur d’Alene. Task force members conducted a follow-up search on a suspect’s residence in Spokane, where another 10 pounds of suspected marijuana was recovered along with about $8,000 in cash. The approximate street value of the marijuana is $71,500, Sgt. Rob Turner said in a news release.

Police said Friday they would not release the names of the two men because the investigation is continuing.

– Scott Maben

Nez Perce County

Fast-growing fire forces evacuations

Police ordered a mandatory evacuation Friday for about 150 homes south of Lewiston after the Chimney Complex wildfire jumped a fire line and roared over a ridge, a fire spokesman said.

With the help of helicopters and air tankers, crews tried to slow the blaze as it burned toward the Waha Lake and Red Bird communities, said Cameron Eck of Kusicko/Cowin’s Type II Incident Management Team. The families, who had been on evacuation alert since the fire started July 13, were told they had to leave their homes at about 9 p.m. Friday.

Eck said the residents have been cooperative and understanding.

The lightning-caused fire grew to 41,000 acres Friday, and authorities were still considering it 55 percent contained, Eck said.

“We still have contingency lines built around the subdivisions, and we do have a plan in place for the morning to catch it,” he said.

In Idaho County, authorities are preparing to serve evacuation warnings to families near Hells Canyon, where a wildfire swelled so fast on Friday that firefighters had to pull out, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman said.

Earlier measurements put the blaze at 4,000 acres, but fire information officer Elayne Murphy said it was much larger by the evening.

“We had swirling winds, very dry conditions … so we just had to get people out of the way,” she said.

Just 27 people were fighting the Poe Cabin fire Friday. A national incident management team took over at 6 p.m., Murphy said.

The lightning-caused fire started late Wednesday and has advanced within six miles of White Bird.

– Nick Eaton