A Bozeman man charged with felony elder abuse and violating an order of protection in May 2021 pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor assault charge.
Daniel Edwin Gorder, 37, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of misdemeanor partner family member assault before Gallatin County District Court Judge Peter Ohman.
According to court documents, Gorder hit an elderly person across the face with a shoe and, on two different dates, ripped the armrests off of a chair the person was sitting in and grabbed the person and pushed them into a piece of furniture in a home. Court documents also said that several years prior, he had grabbed a different person by the neck and pushed them into the ground. He later violated a court order not to contact both of the people by attempting to call one and texting the other.
At Gorder’s appearance in Gallatin County Justice Court after his arrest, Judge Bryan Adams set his bail at $10,000. At that bail setting, Adams said he considered setting a higher bail because of the nature of the then-alleged crimes and what the judge saw as an escalation of dangerous behavior. He decided against doing so because he did not determine Gorder to be a flight risk, or a person who would attempt to run from the court, because he has ties to Bozeman. A first offense of misdemeanor partner or family member assault carries a minimum sentence of 24 hours in jail with a maximum of one year incarcerated. It also carries a minimum $100 fine and a maximum fine of $1,000.
In Montana law, the definition of both a partner and a family member is broad and includes any past or present member of a family household, including people related by adoption, marriage and remarriage, whether or not they still live in the same household. Partners under the law are defined as any two people in a dating relationship or formerly in a relationship, including spouses and former spouses, and any couple who has a child together regardless of dating or marital status.
Sentencing for Gorder’s case is scheduled for Dec. 7 in Gallatin County District Court.
No comments:
Post a Comment