Feds retain accused Presho kidnapper
State charges postponed while federal case proceeds.By: Chris Mueller, The Daily Republic
- Clinton Brown
KENNEBEC — A Presho man accused of kidnapping and abusing his daughter will stay in federal custody even with other charges pending at the state level.
On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Moreno denied a federal prosecutor’s request to temporarily transfer Clint Brown into state custody so he could attend a motions hearing that was scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday in Kennebec for his pending case in Lyman County.
Brown, 36, was indicted in August by a Lyman County grand jury for allegedly kidnapping his 10-year-old daughter Aug. 17, then choking her, firing a gun near her head and striking her with the butt of a gun. He was also charged for an incident on Aug. 15, his daughter’s birthday, when he allegedly shot her dog in front of her.
Brown was allegedly under the influence of methamphetamine and marijuana at the time of the incidents.
Brown was also indicted Dec. 11 by a federal grand jury on one count of being a felon and drug user in possession of a firearm. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial later this month.
He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release on that charge.
Brown objected to the proposed transfer at a Jan. 25 hearing. With Brown’s federal trial scheduled to start within a few weeks, Moreno found it was inappropriate to transfer Brown to state authorities.
“Fairness and equity demand that Brown, at a minimum, be permitted to focus on his upcoming federal trial without being forced to switch horses and answer to the state charges,” Moreno’s order says.
Moreno decided postponing any release or transfer until after Brown’s federal trial to be the best option, the order says.
Tags: news, updates, crime, kidnapping, presho, courts
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