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E-mail StoryTrial of pig farmer accused of attacking deputy with paint roller begins
| Wednesday, Apr 16 2008 6:05 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Apr 17 2008 7:28 AM
The case against an octogenarian pig farmer accused of hitting a sheriff’s deputy with a paint roller has gone to trial in Kern County Superior Court.
A robbery witness, who was shot in the head as a result reportedly, will not face accessory and drug charges.
A third suspect in the Delano deputy-involved shooting that left a teen dead was arrested.
A convicted murderer could go free, as his attorney says the third murder trial — where a second murder conviction was reached — amounts to double jeopardy.
A Mexican national was found guilty of murder and kidnapping in an Arvin drug slaying.
Authorities have named a 20-year-old Arvin man as a suspect in a hit-and-run.
Buttonwillow men get more than $11,000 fine for burning dead cattle and sheep.
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Photos:
Louis Montgomery waits to be called into Kern County Superior Court in this June 2007 file photo.
Louis Montgomery, an 82-year-old rural Bakersfield resident, is facing felony charges related to an altercation in March 2007 at the defendant’s home.
It all started when Montgomery and members of his family decided to paint the side of a cinder block wall — the side facing his neighbors — in a rainbow of gaudy colors.
Apparently, some neighbors took umbrage and called the cops.
According to the testimony of two of the neighbors, when Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Williams arrived, he ordered those armed with paint rollers to stop painting.
Two family members dropped their rollers, but Monty, as friends and family refer to the defendant, refused.
“Louis Montgomery said, ‘This is my GD wall and I’ll paint it any color I want,’” neighbor Randy Cass testified Wednesday.
While there appeared to be some discrepancies in testimony about what happened next, the two neighbors said Montgomery struck the deputy at least twice or as many as several times in the head with a long-handled paint roller.
Months before the confrontation with the deputy, several neighbors had been fighting the county to prevent Montgomery from keeping more than two pigs on his half-acre of land, saying the animals stunk and attracted flies.
Other neighbors, however, supported the pig farm, which provided pigs for 4-H and FFA projects for the Kern County Fair.
County officials required Montgomery to build a block wall between his property and Cass’ property. Cass is a neighbor opposed to the pigs. That’s the wall Montgomery was straddling when he allegedly attacked Williams.
The two witnesses also said they heard Montgomery call for relatives to go get his shotgun.
Williams pepper-sprayed Montgomery and called for backup. With help from a Bakersfield Police officer, the old man was pulled down from the wall and handcuffed.
Montgomery’s attorney, Kyle Humphrey, said his client’s advanced age makes it hard for him to follow the trial.
Nevertheless, “Monty” will testify in his own defense before the case goes to the jury, Humphrey promised.
His client suffered several injuries, including a broken rib and bruising in the area of his testicles, Humphrey said.
The highlight of Wednesday’s testimony came when the prosecutor handed a witness a long-handled paint roller similar to the weapon alleged to have been used by the defendant.
Witness James Wilson demonstrated an overhead downward stroke followed by a roundabout right-to-left shot.
When Williams tried to pull Montgomery off the wall, Monty’s daughter held her father from the other side of the wall, Wilson said.
“It was like a tug of war.”