Man sent to prison in stabbing case

A Kalispell man is headed to prison for stabbing a victim eight times on Feb. 3, 2015.

Flathead District Court Judge David Ortley said Thursday that he could not follow the terms of a plea agreement that would have allowed Justin Westermeyer, 28, to receive a suspended or deferred sentence.

Ortley sentenced Westermeyer to 10 years in Montana State Prison with five years suspended. If Westermeyer behaves in prison he should be eligible for parole in 15 months, Ortley said. As part of a plea agreement, Westermeyer pleaded no contest to an amended charge of criminal endangerment in the case. He had originally been charged with assault with a weapon. A no contest plea does not admit explicit guilt, but does acknowledge that a defendant is likely to be found guilty at trial.

Prosecutor John Donovan argued for a 10-year suspended sentence to Montana State Prison. Defense attorney Timothy Wenz asked for imposition of sentence to be deferred for six years.

“I cannot in good conscience follow the plea agreement,” Ortley said. “I do believe a prison sentence in this case is warranted.”

Ortley said that while the victim David Hammett might have gone to Westermeyer’s residence the night of the stabbing and helped instigate the incident, a standing order of protection was in place against Westermeyer at the time of the incident, which required Westermeyer to remove himself from the situation, instead of having an overreaction and stabbing Hammett.

In the months leading up to the incident Westermeyer had admitted to slashing Hammett’s tires, Ortley said. He also was accused of assaulting Hammett from behind in a previous incident.

Hammett took the stand and testified that the day of the incident he had tried to reach the mother of his two-week-old child 125 times. Wenz pointed out that the woman might have been scared by the excessive contact, but Hammett said that he was only trying to find the woman. The woman is also the mother of Westermeyer’s children.

Hammett testified that Westermeyer stabbed him eight times, twice in the front and six times in the back. He lifted his shirt and showed Ortley the scars, which were circled in black marker, from the witness stand. He said that Westermeyer threw him a rag as he yelled for help and kicked dirt and snow in his face as he was bleeding on the ground. It took five minutes for Westermeyer to call for help, Hammett said. When Hammet cried out for help, Westermeyer allegedly told him to “Shut the f--- up, you are going to wake my neighbors.”

“I am firmly convinced that the defendant wanted to kill me,” Hammett said.

Hammett said he was unhappy with prosecutor John Donovan’s decision to reduce the charges and not recommend jail time. The reduced charge means that Westermeyer will not have to register as a violent offender.

“If he isn’t a violent offender I don’t know who is,” Hammett said.

Hammett’s father, Richard Hammett, also said that he was unhappy with the way the case had progressed and asked that the judge send Westermeyer to prison for 20 years with three years suspended and no eligibility for parole.

“He looked like a pincushion,” Richard Hammett said of his son’s injuries. He said he could think of no crime that was more animal-like.

“With the grace of God my son is not dead or paralyzed,” Richard Hammett said.

He testified that he and the insurance company have paid more than $102,000 in medical bills for his son’s injuries.

Prosecutor John Donovan said he understood why the Hammett family was upset, but that he had to weigh the threat of a self-defense claim that could be make at trial.

“It wasn’t a split-second decision,” Donovan said. “It was weighing evidence I could present at trial.”

Wenz said that Westermeyer maintained his innocence.

“This was a very difficult case,” Wenz said. “We feel there was a very plausible self-defense case for Mr. Westermeyer to bring before the jury.”

Wenz argued that because Westermeyer pleaded not contest, he should not be ordered to pay restitution. Ortley disagreed and ordered Westermeyer to pay 90 percent of the medical costs for Hammett’s care. He deducted 10 percent because he said Hammett did share some culpability in the incident.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.