Finley takes plea deal

POLSON — A Ronan man came to a plea deal with state prosecutors last Wednesday, resolving two different criminal cases with two felony convictions.

Jesse James Finley’s plea agreement convicted him of felony attempted sexual assault and felony partner or family member assault. The partner or family member assault occurred in March when the 21-year-old defendant was out of jail on $5,000 bond.

Sentencing will be on September 1.

Finley originally was charged with aggravated assault resulting in permanent injury, aggravated partner family member assault, assault on a minor, criminal endangerment, and burglary, all felonies, after an assault on his estranged girlfriend March 26.

Deputy county attorney Mark Russell said the preliminary investigation showed police responded to a residence in Polson around 8 a.m. that morning after receiving a 911 call that contained sounds of an altercation in the background.

Upon arrival, Russell said Polson Police officer Anthony Dentler witnessed the victim, a woman who is apparently Finley’s ex-girlfriend, in an upstairs window, screaming and pounding on the glass. During a subsequent interview, the victim said that Finley broke into her home, woke her up, and hit and strangled her while she held her 2-year-old child. Finley is the father of the baby.

Asst. Polson Police Chief John Stevens said Finley escaped the scene before being apprehended in a pickup truck. Officers determined he was extremely intoxicated.

Finley has been held in the Lake County Jail on $50,000 bond since the incident.

The suspect had been released from jail in January after posting $5,000 bond. He had been held on a felony charge of sexual intercourse without consent after allegedly having sex with the same alleged victim’s 13-year old cousin in August 2009. That charge was resolved when prosecutors determined intercourse did not occur, but attempted sexual assault had.

Finley has a prior conviction for first offense partner family member assault from March 2009. Originally charged with felony aggravated assault, Finley pleaded to the lesser offense and served 105 days in the Lake County Jail as a result of the conviction. The affidavit from the case states that in March 2008, Finley assaulted his then-girlfriend, who was five months pregnant with their child at the time. She reported that he had punched and kicked her in the stomach during the incident, and she was subsequently hospitalized.