The woman accused of firing shots at ATV riders who had crossed onto her property earlier this year has withdrawn an Alford plea and planned to move forward with a defense.
Bonita Walker of Fairdealing appeared Thursday in Marshall County Circuit Court at what was initially scheduled as a sentencing hearing and told Judge Jamie Jameson she wanted to withdraw her plea. Defense attorney Mark Ashburn did not appear, and Walker said she had been unable to reach him by phone. Jameson questioned Ashburn’s absence and whether he remained Walker’s counsel.
“Well, I’m not real sure about that,” Walker said. “He doesn’t want me to withdraw my plea.”
Walker elected, on Ashburn’s advice, to enter an Alford plea May 23 during a pre-trial status hearing on five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. A defendant may choose to make an Alford plea if he or she does not admit to any wrongdoing, but recognizes that the state can present enough evidence to result in a conviction and agrees to be treated as guilty. She would have faced a five-year sentence, with the first three diverted provided she met conditions imposed by the court, which included that she not own or possess a firearm of any sort.
Walker told Jameson she had changed her mind on the plea after findings of an investigation she conducted herself.
It would have mattered little, however. Jameson said he had determined he would not accept her plea. He did not disclose the reasons for his decision, but issued a continuance to July 25, based on the absence of Walker’s attorney.
Walker was arrested Feb. 19 on wanton endangerment and criminal mischief charges after allegedly firing shots as ATV and UTV riders who police said had inadvertantly crossed onto her property on Salem Chapel Road. Walker did not give consent for riders to enter her property and had previously reported to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department problems with riders trespassing onto the property.