Trial begins for Kila man accused of assault

A Kila man shouldn't be held responsible for savagely beating his wife's lover because there was no intent behind his actions, according to his attorney.

The psychological and emotional distress of seeing his wife in bed with another man brought 35-year-old Robert Reynolds Derby III "to the point of a mental breakdown," argued Kalispell attorney Thane Johnson Monday during opening statements in Derby's assault trial.

"His first sight is a naked man coming out of his bed… and this is where he snapped," Johnson said. "He doesn't remember what happens after that. He absolutely does not."

While Montana does not permit attorneys to argue temporary insanity in assault cases, Johnson is attempting to mount a similar but largely untried defense called "automatism."

In the coming days, Johnson will try to convince the jury that the beating was an "involuntary act" committed during a period of diminished mental capacity.

Deputy County Attorney Lori Adams, however, argued in her opening statement that Derby knowingly beat the 29-year-old man, focusing on the attack's severity.

It caused the man to lose sight in one eye, which later was removed.

"It was immediately apparent that he had a major injury to his left eye," testified Flathead County Sheriff's Deputy Roger Schiff, who responded to the scene. "His left eye was protruding from the socket and there was blood on his face. It was the worst assault I've ever seen in my career."

The man also had several teeth damaged, a broken jaw, and injured ribs. Derby did not use any weapons in the attack.

Schiff and other deputies responded to a home on Spring Hill Drive in Kila just before 11:30 p.m. on March 3 after Derby called 911 to report he had just caught his wife in bed with another man and then "beat the hell out of him," Derby told dispatchers in a recording of the call played in court.

Derby's wife told investigators she and the alleged victim were sitting on the bed watching TV when Derby broke through the locked bedroom door and attacked the other man, who had hidden in the closet.

But Johnson argued that there was no evidence - aside from the woman's statement - the pair was watching TV, were clothed or that the alleged victim was in the closet.

Derby, who was staying at a friend's home at the time his wife lived in their Kila home while following a program to save their marriage, walked in on his wife and the alleged victim naked, according to Johnson.

Derby had returned to the Kila home, where he was working on an addition earlier in the day, to retrieve his forgotten cell phone and medication for an injured back.

His mental break after discovering the alleged victim in the bedroom was aggravated by the fact that his wife had led him to believe she wanted the reconciliation and the alleged victim had told him the affair was over, Johnson argued.

The alleged victim testified Monday that "he didn't really believe [Derby and his wife] were still seeing each other."

Derby's wife and the alleged victim saw each other two to three times a week during the reported reconciliation and had lived together in Kalispell for about a month.

From the stand, he recalled arriving at the Kila home, going into Derby's wife's bedroom, smoking a cigarette, and then nothing "until waking up in the hospital."

Derby and his wife's three teenage girl's were also in the home when the attack occurred.

Derby pleaded not guilty in March to aggravated assault, criminal endangerment, misdemeanor partner assault and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of children.

If convicted on all charges, Derby faces a maximum sentence of more than 31 years in prison and a $101,000 fine. His trial is scheduled to last through Thursday.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com