Man sentenced in stabbing case

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SANDPOINT — A man accused of stabbing another during an intoxicated argument will serve three to six years in Idaho State Prison for charges of aggravated battery.

Bobby Daniel Adams, 38, submitted a written Alford guilty plea on August 3 as a part of a plea bargain. Under an Alford plea, a defendant admits no wrongdoing but concedes a guilty verdict could result following a trial. The plea is treated no differently than a standard plea of guilt at sentencing. Judge Lamont Berecz followed a Rule 11 mediation agreement reached earlier this month. A Rule 11 agreement binds the judge to follow the agreement, if they don’t, the defendant is allowed to take back their guilty plea.

Adams stabbed the man during an intoxicated argument on March 30, 2021. Two witnesses interviewed by law enforcement said that Adams wanted to drive home after a party on Granite Ridge Drive, but the victim refused to let him. An argument ensued between the two, which escalated to shoving, then wrestling in the ditch in front of the residence. Shortly afterward, the victim was heard screaming from the ditch that Adams had stabbed him, according to witness testimony. After the stabbing, they said Adams stood up, threw the knife beside the road, and walked away, according to the criminal affidavit filed by sheriff’s deputies.

BCSO Lieutenant Jim Thompson spotted Adams climbing the cliffs not too far from the residence, ordered him down and placed him in handcuffs.

In statements to Thompson, Adams said he saw a group of people approaching with intentions of attacking him. He removed the knife from his coat pocket, intending to put it in his pants pocket. It was at that point, he said he was pushed by a member of the group, causing him to stab the victim. He then told the deputy he was later pushed again, causing the knife to “fly into the woods” after the incident.

When deputy Thompson said he was lying, Adams admitted to throwing the 3-inch Buck knife, but not to stabbing the victim.

The knife was discovered beside Granite Ridge Drive, covered in blood.

One witness testified she unsuccessfully tried to break up the fight before it escalated by getting in between Adams and the victim. She told law enforcement that she later saw Adams stab the victim, saying he was “shanking him like they were in prison.”

Another witness claims he heard the stabbing, describing it as “a wet slicing sound.” He jumped on Adams’s back and began punching him in the head in an attempt to get Adams to stop.

BCSO Lt. Jim Bergstrom said the victim described Adams as “irate” for not allowing him to drive home after a night of drinking in a victim’s statement collected after he received stitches for non-life-threatening stab wounds to his left flank, hands, and wrists. He told Bergstrom that Adams pulled out a knife and approached, prompting him to kick at Adams’s legs as a way of maintaining distance. According to the victim’s statement, Adams kept coming at him and stabbed him in the abdomen, causing the fight to go to the ground. The fight ended with people pulling Adams off of the victim, before Adams walked away.

Adams was placed in custody with the Idaho Department of Corrections, receiving 146 days credit toward his sentence. A persistent violation charge was dropped in the case as part of the plea agreement. With 12 previous court cases in Idaho, Adams already served two years for possession of a controlled substance and probation violation. Included in Adams’s conviction history is battery, felony injury to a child, and petit theft.

“You can’t undo what you did,” said Berecz after handing down Adams’s sentence, “You can’t take it back. But what you can do is move forward and make things right.”

Berecz then asked Adams to write an apology letter to forward to the victim as a way of upholding the no contact order the victim has against Adams — bringing Adams to tears.

“I just want to tell him how sorry I am for this,” said Adams, “How much I love him. How much I would like to heal and just have his forgiveness in return.”