MT - James Hurley, 12, tortured to death, W. Yellowstone, Feb 2020 grandparents & uncle arrested #1

[Niner]

Montana grandmother pleads not guilty in boy's beating death

Montana grandmother pleads not guilty in boy's beating death

West Yellowstone woman pleads not guilty in death of 12-year-old grandson

Patricia Batts pled "Not Guilty" to charges against her in the death of JAH. Hearing was on March 23, 2020 in Gallatin County.

Batts was charged with deliberate homicide by association but faced additional charges in the court of kidnapping, child endangerment, and strangulation.

Batts pleaded not guilty to all four charges. Her next omnibus hearing is set for Mar. 27, 2020 and her bail remains at $750,000.

Since I can't access the links you provided - is there anything about JS Jr? Did he appear also? Or does he have a different date for arraignment?

TIA!

 

[mickey2942]

Since I can't access the links you provided - is there anything about JS Jr? Did he appear also? Or does he have a different date for arraignment?

TIA!

Nope, all about PB. I copied the new information, pre trial hearing on Thursday. I noted in the pictures that no one is using "Social Distancing".

 

[Niner]

Thanks @mickey2942 !

 

[Dave F.]

Nope, all about PB. I copied the new information, pre trial hearing on Thursday. I noted in the pictures that no one is using "Social Distancing".

In the three articles cited, I see only one picture; which is of PB and a guard. To me, the standards of "social distancing" are met in that one. What am I missing?

West Yellowstone woman pleads not guilty in death of 12-year-old grandson

 

[Trudie]

@mickey2942 I was thinking about unc’ converting Alex’s bedroom into a gaming room. Sounds like PB did not want to be bothered with even her own offspring & unc’ made his own decisions. The fact unc’ is obese shows her lack of interest & parenting skills, imo. Uncle needed an exercise room not a gaming room, no doubt he enjoyed violent games. We have all read the stats on those.

All JAH was to that "family" was the $775 SSI death benefit check every month, as a dependent recipient of his Father's death benefit.

 

[Trudie]

@Dave F. Uncle has a court date in the near future to determine if he will e tried as an adult. His atty requested more time to prepare, so nothing was resolved at his last video court date. Moo

 

[Trudie]

In the three articles cited, I see only one picture; which is of PB and a guard. To me, the standards of "social distancing" are met in that one. What am I missing?

West Yellowstone woman pleads not guilty in death of 12-year-old grandson

Love seeing her evil hands shackled. Boy, how she has changed........
Anyone know if Auntie M is back in MT?

 

[Dave F.]

@Dave F. Uncle has a court date in the near future to determine if he will e tried as an adult. His atty requested more time to prepare, so nothing was resolved at his last video court date. Moo

As I stated before, the motion is not to decide whether he will be tried as an adult. That decision has already been made. An appeal of it was filed, which is the subject of the hearing. His lawyer would be lax if he didn't try, but it's a real challenge, for sure. JMO

 

[Dave F.]

Love seeing her evil hands shackled. Boy, how she has changed........
Anyone know if Auntie M is back in MT?

Not yet. I'm not familiar with extraditions from Texas to Montana, but from Colorado back to Montana can take anywhere between 3 weeks and 3 months. I don't think she has even had a first extradition hearing yet. Montana generally flies them home, so booking a flight right away could be a problem. IMO

Jail Roster

 

[Niner]

@Dave F. Uncle has a court date in the near future to determine if he will e tried as an adult. His atty requested more time to prepare, so nothing was resolved at his last video court date. Moo

and that would be on July 7th according to my notes....

 

[Trudie]

@Niner Tysm. I planned to look at some point, lol.
bet he’ll look a lot dif too. I’m confident he’s not on a 25k calorie daily diet.
Doubt he’s gaming and assaulting anyone.

 

[Dave F.]

Love seeing her evil hands shackled. Boy, how she has changed........
Anyone know if Auntie M is back in MT?

It does not appear that MS' extradition hearing will be delayed due to the COVID-19 restrictions, but I don't expect that a justice court would publish a docket. JMO
Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 JUDGE G

 

[Niner]

Since the court site has not updated anything since arrest - and the article above mentioned a court date - I will post this until I hear otherwise....

Friday, March 27th:
*Omnibus Hearing (@ am MT) – MT – James Alexander Hurley (12) (found Feb. 3, 2020 deceased in living room, West Yellowstone) - *James Danny Sasser, Jr. (47) (paternal grandfather) arrested (2/12/20) & charged (2/13/20) with 1 count of felony deliberate homicide. $500K bond.
Only For *Patricia “Trish” Lynn Batts (48) aka Patricia Sasser & Patricia Rone (paternal grandmother) arrested (2/12/20 & charged (2/13/20) with 1 count of felony deliberate homicide. Charged (3/5/20) with kidnapping, child endangerment & strangulation. Plead not guilty. $750K bond.
2/13/20 Update: Grandparents initial appearance in court. Batts bond set at $750K & Sasser Jr. at $500K. Did not enter any pleas, but requested public defenders. Next arraignment hearing on 3/6 for both.
3/5/20 Update: Batts face new charges which were filed on 3/5/20 for kidnapping, child endangerment & strangulation. Had arraignment hearing on 3/23/20 & plead not guilty. Batts Only: Omnibus hearing on 3/27. No update on JS Jr. as of 3/25.
*James Danny Sasser III (14) – Hearing on 7/7/20.
*Gage Anthony Roush (18) – Status hearing on 4/21/20.
*Madison Sasser (18) – Arrested & charged (3/19/20) with negligent homicide. Held on $150K bond in Montgomery County jail in Texas.
3/19/20 Update: Madison Sasser, 18 (paternal aunt of James) was arrested in Conroe on Thursday afternoon. A warrant was issued for her arrest less than an hour beforehand, though it is unclear which law enforcement agency issued the warrant or if it's related to the case in West Yellowstone.
James was sent to live with his father by his mother; father died in 2018 & ended up with grandparents. Videos of abuse dating back to December 2019. "Detectives observed videos of what appeared to be the family torturing (James)," the complaint said. Instances of the abuse included James being forced to do exercises -- jumping jacks and wall squats -- along with standing in front of a fan with no clothing but his underwear, according to the complaint. Videos reviewed by detectives also showed the suspects spraying James in the face with an unknown substance that burned him and choking him, & detectives also found food in the house was locked up so James did not have access to it. Roush could be seen on cell phone video beating Hurley with a paddle. Under Montana law, deliberate homicide by means of torture is one of the aggravating circumstances that would allow the county attorney’s office to seek the death penalty.”

 

[Niner]

Any news on what might have happened at hearing for Batts? I'm just getting old articles.

TIA.

 

[Luckyzmom]

@Niner have not seen anything either will let ya know if I do. TY for all you do for us

 

[Niner]

Aunt charged, grandmother of murdered West Yellowstone boy pleads not guilty

March 24, 2020

BOZEMAN, Mont. - The grandmother of the West Yellowstone boy murdered last month pleaded not guilty Tuesday to all four charges related to the death and alleged torture of her 12-year-old grandson, James Alexander Hurley.

Patricia Batts appeared for the first time in Gallatin County District Court this afternoon.

She's facing charges of deliberate homicide, aggravated kidnapping, child endangerment, and strangulation of a family member.
[.....]
Batts is due in court again on May 27.


I noticed that the headline also has "Aunt Charged" - but I had to use Outline to access this article - and was wondering if the "original" link has something about Madison in it. I believe Outline does NOT give the whole article at times.

TIA!

 

[mickey2942]

https://courts.mt.gov/local-virus-rules

I think that right now, every thing has been suspended, due to CV19.

 

[Dave F.]

https://courts.mt.gov/local-virus-rules

I think that right now, every thing has been suspended, due to CV19.

I'm not sure that's what the latest "shelter in place rule" says, exactly............the authority to delay some proceedings may not exist. Most filings, and some procedures (like omnibus hearings), can continue under"shelter in place" rules.
With that said, the entire state is on lockdown. Nothing is moving. You are right, most of life is on hold. IMO

https://courts.mt.gov/Portals/189/virus/shelter.pdf

 

[Niner]

Looks like Roush was in court yesterday.

West Yellowstone man charged in Alex Hurley case denied lower bail due to safety concerns

March 31, 2020

BOZEMAN, Mont. - The 18-year-old West Yellowstone man charged with felony assault on a minor in case of 12-year-old James Alexander Hurley will not be returning to his hometown anytime soon, a Gallatin County judge decided in court Tuesday morning.

Gage Roush's lawyer asked Gallatin County District Court Judge Holly Brown today for a lower bail so he could return to his home in West Yellowstone, where Hurley was murdered in February. Roush's bail is currently set at $50,000. He pleaded not guilty earlier this month.
[.....]
Roush has no prior criminal history or record of violence, according to his attorney. Roush's defense attorney said that the 18-year-old is not a flight risk and that he was willing to sign a waiver of extradition to alleviate concern and wear an ankle monitor. She asked that if the bail was low enough, he could return home to live with his grandmother and either return to his work at a local snowmobile shop or do other work away from the public.

Gallatin County Sheriff's Office Detective Nathaniel Webb and Roush's grandmother were both called to the stand as witnesses on Tuesday.
[.....]
On Tuesday, prosecutors and witnesses focused on threats, some through Facebook, made by both out-of-state residents and community members who say they do not want the 18-year-old to return to West Yellowstone.

Judge Brown cited those threats - and the severity of Roush's charge - in her decision.


And I have his next hearing on 4/21. Don't know IF that will be on as the court site has never been updated for next court dates.

 

[Dave F.]

I don't see MS listed on the Texas jail roster this morning.

Jail Roster