Man refuses plea deal after judge denies OR release

A man charged with battery and assault of an officer following a 2010 incident involving his probation officer pleaded not guilty again this week in court after he was denied a recognizance release from jail.

Jeffrey Kolb appeared in District Court Monday morning on charges of battery on an officer and assault upon an officer, two weeks after he withdrew from a plea deal in the case that would have dropped felony charges.

The charges were filed after Kolb allegedly tried to flee from parole and probation officers on Jan. 26, 2010 when he realized they were likely going to arrest him for violating certain terms of his probation and he panicked.

“There were some issues with him complying with certain things and he felt that they were going to (arrest him), which is their right…He panics, runs out, either pushes or knocks over one of the P&P officers on his way out. He then gets to his car, goes to drive away and the officers come out and start shooting at his car. Nobody got hurt, thank God,” Kolb’s attorney Jason Earnest told the court at a July 29 hearing in the case.

The defense attorney explained a deal was later worked out with the district attorney’s office that if Kolb agreed to plead guilty to the gross misdemeanor charges of battery on an officer and assault upon an officer, the state would drop the felony charges of escape and failure to appear in the case as well as charges in another case as well.

During his initial arraignment in the case last month, Kolb pleaded guilty to the charges. Before the arraignment could be completed, however, he withdrew his plea after hearing he would not be allowed a recognizance release from jail — a release that doesn’t require posting of bail or bond.

“Your honor, the state’s opposing an own recognizance release in this case. The defendant bench warranted twice while he was in Justice Court. He was OR’d twice, bench warranted twice and after reviewing the facts of this case, the fact that the officers were almost put in harm’s way because of this defendant in addition to bench warranting twice after being given an OR, the lower court set a bond of $100,000 and I would ask that stay in place. I don’t think the defendant will come back to court unless he’s brought here,” Deputy District Attorney David Rickert said.

“I didn’t try to run these officers over your honor, I was scared and I ran,” Kolb explained to the judge. “There were five court appearances and I made three of the five. I’m not trying to make excuses, but the only reason I missed was because of a DUI in Las Vegas so I couldn’t get here and my son died. I promise I’ll be here your honor.”

Despite his promises to appear in court, Judge Robert Lane decided to deny Kolb’s motion for an own recognizance release. The judge explained the man’s prior failures to appear made him nervous Kolb would not return unless he was in custody.

After the judge denied the release, Kolb stated he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea and plead not guilty. His attorney then asked the court schedule a status check on the case for this week so he could have time to speak with his client about why he suddenly no longer wanted to take the plea deal.

“We filed the guilty plea agreement, you canvased him, he agreed to the terms, he wanted an OR, you did not OR him based upon his failure to appears and other reasons … Mr. Kolb decided to retract his negotiation, expose himself to multiple filings of felonies instead of the two gross misdemeanors and you said OK. And I asked you at my behest to put it on calendar today because I really don’t think it’s in his best interest to do that,” Earnest said Monday.

Before the judge could ask if he still wanted to plead not guilty or accept the deal he rejected two weeks prior, Kolb again asked the court if he could be released from custody. He told the court he was slated to start school soon and didn’t want to miss the beginning of his senior year of college.

The motion was again denied and Kolb said he still wanted to plead not guilty in the case.

A two-day trial was subsequently set for Sept. 3-4.

As of Tuesday morning, Kolb remained in custody at the Nye County Detention Center awaiting those dates.