Man involved in 2011 gunfight is paroled

SANDPOINT — A former Bonner County man convicted for his role in a gunfight in which he was injured has been released on parole, according to Idaho Department of Correction records.

Richard Allen Larson was serving consecutive two- to five-year prison terms in connection with the armed confrontation in the Upper Pack River Valley in 2011.

Larson was accused of attacking his former girlfriend outside a gate on his property and threatening her with a pistol. Larson is accused of opening fire on the woman’s current boyfriend, prompting the man to return fire and injure Larson.

Larson took the stand in his own defense during trial, maintaining that his ex attacked him and her boyfriend was the first to open fire. Jurors, however, found the accounts of the alleged victims more credible than Larson’s and convicted him of two counts of aggravated assault.

Larson, 66, appealed his convictions, but the Idaho Court of Appeals upheld them, court records show.

The Idaho Commission of Pardons & Parole declined to release Larson on parole in 2015 and 2016 due to the seriousness of Larson’s crimes, according to the panel’s hearing minutes.

During a Dec. 7, 2017, hearing, Larson admitted holding a gun to the woman’s head, a lapse in judgment he attributed to his functional alcoholism, minutes indicate.

“He has a blind spot in his personality that affects his thinking,” Larson’s counsel, Darren McKenzie, told parole commissioners.

Larson told the commission he planned to serve his parole in either Oregon and California. His counsel during the hearing, Darren McKenzie, said Larson has shown that he can follow rules.

“He feels subject will do well on parole if is in treatment and stays away from alcohol,” the commission noted, summing up McKenzie’s remarks.

Conditions of Larson’s parole require him to maintain sobriety, obtain a mental health evaluation and comply with treatment recommendations. He’s also forbidden from having contact with the victims in the case, commission records show.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.