Stidham hearing rescheduled after new attorney a no-show

A Havre woman accused of assaulting her husband with his own handgun will have to wait at least another week for any movement in two cases she faces in state District Court in Havre. Her attorney missed hearings scheduled for Tuesday.

Cindy R. Stidham, born in 1966, appeared for hearings on charges of assault with a weapon and partner or family member assault stemming from an alleged incident last summer and on a felony charge of possession of methamphetamine filed after she was arrested in January, the fourth time she was arrested while out on bond awaiting trial on the 2013 charges.

Stidham and numerous family members — including her husband, Randy Stidham — waited for more than an hour for the hearing to start as a previous hearing went long over the time expected. But then her hearing never began.

Her attorney, Paul Neal of Conrad, said he had not realized Stidham's hearing was scheduled and was appearing in a different court, Public Defender Kaydee Snipes of Lorang Law told District Judge Dan Boucher when she appeared for Stidham at Neal’s request.

Stidham was arrested on the charge of attempted murder and on misdemeanor drug charges after her husband told officers she confronted him at his business and residence and threatened him with his own .22 caliber pistol. He told officers he was lucky she had not brought his 9 mm pistol or he would have been shot — he saw when he picked it up that the .22 caliber pistol had jammed, he said.

The charge was reduced from attempted murder to a felony count of assault with a weapon.

Stidham was put back in jail and again bonded out three times while awaiting trial, with her release revoked for violations including breaking an order she avoid her husband by going out to local bars and drinking with him.

She pleaded guilty in a plea agreement, but after her then-attorney Public Defender Tom Schoenleben, Boucher and the prosecution noted that her comments in a pre-sentence investigation were not consistent with the plea — including complaints about her legal representation — she moved to withdraw her guilty pleas.

Neal was appointed to replace Schoenleben, and the hearings on the motion to withdraw her guilty pleas and on other issues were the missed hearings Tuesday.

Stidham was in the Hill County jail this morning on $50,000 bond for violating conditions of her release, awaiting the hearing that Boucher rescheduled for July 21.