Martin trial results in hung jury; prosecutor to retry vehicular manslaughter charge

I am astounded that this case has received so little attention. In similar cases, public attention was focused and reminded all of the tragic consequences of impaired decision-making and the way it inevitably changes the lives of all involved.

This is a situation where repeated driving offenses didn't convince this man to change his behavior. The circumstances of his revocation of bond suggest that even the tragedy didn't cause him to reconsider self-destructive actions.

I hope the media follows this case and keeps us all aware of the outcome. Only aggressive prosecution and substantial consequences are going to convince some people that just because you "didn't mean to" hurt anyone, the very decision to drive while impaired is a serious criminal act, equivalent to pointing a loaded gun. I am glad to hear that the DA is pursuing this case and, if convicted, can only hope that it results in an unambiguous message that this tragic situation should never happen again.

This man not only has had repeated driving offenses in his past, but also other charges that he was found guilty of such as: reckless driving, driving without priviledges, driving under the influence, contempt of court, domestic battery, false imprisonment, Accident-fail Stop Damage Accident/leave Scene of an accident,driving vehicle without owners consent, aggravated battery, as so on and so forth.

In my opinion this man was "significantly" a part of causing or creating the accident. If he had not been there at that time, and had not completed the actions that he did, then there would in most probability,(in my opinion),not have been a car accident that was fatal to two individuals.

The Idaho Repository-Case History lists court cases present and past and is all public knowledge. You can read all of the different types of things this guy has done regarding driving.

Here is the site address

https://www.idcourts.us/repository/caseHistory.do?roaDetail=yes&schema=ELMORE&co...

The first case you will see is quite lengthy and is regarding the murder and manslaughter charges that he has been involved in regarding this current court case. You can scroll down past the current case and see all the others he has been involved in since 1996.

This is tragic. I've followed this case. How.. how in the world can this person be allowed to drive. We all should have seen this coming. If you look at the driving history link as provided by midea you will see that it was inevitable that this person would eventually kill someone.

I look at this as a warning to the citizens of Mountain Home and Elmore County. If this man is not convicted... he's already allegedly killed two people, whom will it be and how many will it be next time? How many lives have to be ruined before you are able to get him off the streets?

You could be next.

The case is only as good as the PA. You have to wonder how well she is doing her job. Lost the first case. Hung jury second time around. Now, we will try again with the same players. Once again, the case is only as good as the PA that handles it. You get what you pay for.

It is a shame that 2 families have had to live not only through the death of their children (mother, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, etc.) but now have to see this. Maybe if you could not get the job done after 2 attempts it is time for a change so that a conviction can be obtained. Imagine the damage to the families this is all doing. Yes, Martin is yet another productive member of our community who has been released to the streets of MH to do it all again. Nice.

I am the wife of James Robert Garner and the mother of his kids. I can't tell all of you how I can't belive Mike Martain can't be found guilty of any of this. It is nict to see the concern from all of you. As many of you have said all the things he has done in the past and the present there is no remorse of his actions. He truely does feel he had nothing to do with this accident. Also this is putting the whole family through alot. When its all said and done it will probably be 3 years sense the accident. In my opion that is entirely to long to wait for justice and closure.

I also am tired of waiting for my justice. I have spent 482 days in jail, but have not been found guilty of any crime. Me and my family suffer,my children suffer. Yet no one concerns themselves with that. I must jump through every hoop the county deems necessary, although I have not been found guilty of any crime. This county has spent 90,000 dollars on two different trials, and out of twenty-four jury members only two thought I was guilty, another two could not reach a decision. As for the remaining twenty members of the jury their vote was cast for that of my innocence. The letter of the law states that any defendant is to be presumed innocent. I feel that the people of this county whom sat on my juries as a result of their vote have by a majority upheld that innocence. If the prosecutor takes me to a third trial it will be the first time in the history of the state that there has been two hung juries and then a third trial. At a cost to the taxpayers of this county an additional 45,000 dollars, at least.

Robert Garner was the closest person to me in the world. I would always tell him he was my best friend, He would just laugh and say, "no mike we're brothers". Well brother I miss you. I miss you everyday. Holding him the night he passed away is the first and last thought I have everyday of my life. Both families opinion of me has not detoured me from keeping them in my thoughts and prayers.

After all that time spent in jail and no lesson was learned because there was a failure of a drug test. If this situation was mine I would make sure to keep my nose clean and out of trouble and try to better my life. No matter what happens there will not be any justice for the children that have to live every day of their life without a parent. I also would not be focusing on myself and the taxpayers money. That is a selfish thought. I think the taxpayers will understand because I can guarantee if this was their families they would want the same thing done in honor of their loved ones.

Mike:

In my opinion you don't care about law and people. You tested positive for what? Is this true? If it is true then you broke your bond. After all that has, and is happening, you still didn't seem to be able to stay away from the law? Is that true? You must just don't get it do you? Now how good is that? Obviously from your past records, that are available, you just can't seem to STAY out of trouble. Again, Mike, here are the cases to see just in case YOU forgot: https://www.idcourts.us/repository/caseHistory.do?roaDetail=yes&schema=ELMORE&co...

You have spent 482 days in jail. How many of those days were for this case only? Also, you chose to waive your right to a speedy trial. When you made that choice you knew you would have to stay in jail longer. See court info. Was that so society would forget what happened? Give it time. Time causes people to forget? You say you and your family suffers. Hey, they are alive. Now I would guess that is a good thing, huh? Let's see, 482 days, what about the 2 persons who died. Did they get any chance at all? Maybe you should have thought about how "brotherly" you and James were before everything happened. Obviously his wife who must know what happened is shocked you have not been found guilty. What about Juanita. She also had a son who will have never known her.

I am sorry for the families of James and Juanita. My heart reaches out to them.

I personally feel you posted here trying to gain some sympathy. I don't feel for you if you can't even show enough concern for yourself or anyone else and you break your bond by testing positive. Did you test positive and break it? Oh, and yes, you might have 2 hung juries, but each was on different charges.

To Broken hearted:

My prayers continue to go out to you and the other family.

Oh...poor Mike Martin! Are we supposed to feel bad for you? You killed 2 people and left the accident without first calling 911 for help for those people. What kind of a man are you?

You have had a life of crime. This is not just 1 bad time---bad times follow you. You cannot even stay away from drugs. Again, what kind of man are you? I can only hope that you do not do this again and that at some point, for this, you will be found guilty. Sorry, I do not feel sorry for you. I feel sorry for the 2 people you killed and the people (family) they left behind. Because of you, children will grow up without a mother. If you felt bad---you would plead guilty and do your time and dry out. You are just sorry you got caught. Sorry Mike, I still do not feel sorry for you. Nice try.

Broken:

All of our hearts go out to you and your family. We think of you often and will not forget what has been done. God bless you and your children and the family of Juanita as well. How someone can say what Mr. Martin has said is just beyond me. Good luck. You will see a conviction and have some peace soon.

On another note...does Mr. Martin have Mr. Ratliff as private counsel or have we paid for his defense as well? Just wondering.

Mike

You've been silent at your trials and you choose this forum to speak out. You must be joking. I will say you really know how to hide behind the law. Your chances will eventually run out. You mention how much the county has spent on this trial. You are worth every penny.

I think you have been treated VERY fairly. Nobody can mention your past deeds. You should be glad. There is no jury that would not immediately convict you if they knew all of the things you've done. Anybody that reads your charges over the last eleven years knows that you have a pattern. I won't mention the pattern here but encourage everyone to look at midea's posting to get the web address.

Again and again you've displayed the same type of activity that you did on the night of Juanita and Robert were killed. YOU have a distinct pattern of behavior. Perhaps the prosecutor knows this. Kudos to her for not giving up on the victims.

You'll never stop unless we take your freedom away. You have exhibited behavior that goes against what is tolerable by most of us. Your past convictions show a tendency to victimize others.

The last I knew, the best of friends would lay down their life for another.

Dawnepooh

My feelings are the same as yours.

When you say he is silent in court then he must not be able to be called as a witness for his own defense. Maybe that is because if he is called they could possibly then ask him about some of his past? I am not sure, but it would seem logical to me. You are correct, every penny spent on this one is worth it.

By the way - I think I know you. Did you take some weddings pics at a home in June of 2005 and put them on discs with music. Also, at that wedding there was a special tribute for the bride from her brother. He couldn't be there because he was -----? Finish the sentence for me if you are the one I think you are.

Yes midea that's me.

There are not as many people following this story as I'd hoped. This was/is a very traumatic event for everyone involved. I would like others to know about this case. It begs the question of how clear is the Idaho code/statute? Twice now the question has been about the word significant.

Personally I believe language is fluid. Which simply means that language changes over time. Those who wrote the law used language differently. The law was written before text messaging, instant messaging, and of course long before Google was defined in the dictionary. This has significant meaning in my opinion.

Where is our fight? Mike will never admit nor feel remorseful about this devastating event. As citizens of Idaho I think perhaps we should start looking at the Idaho Code. In modern language use we value significant statistically. Ten percent, twenty percent, etc.

The true meaning of significant covers much more than that. For most people the word significant has this statistical basis. However, looking at the overall definition of the word significant shows (please use the writers bible... dictionary.com) it can be statistically based or simply mean important.

I honestly feel that Idahoans should consider changing the law. This would require a huge undertaking to get something like that done. Changing the simple language to a word like important would clarify the law.

What do we do with this? How much to Robert and Juanita mean to all of us? Will this be their legacy?

Again, look at midea's entry to get the web address to the judiciary website to look at ALL of Martin's charges and convictions.

Okay... I couldn't let it go so I looked at the OED (Oxford English Dictionary). The latest entries for the word significant are quantitative. I was correct in my assessment. Shocking considering I hadn't taken the time to look at the word significant.

So if we propose to the Idaho legislature to change the law what word do we ask for to replace significant? That's up to the lawmakers. We should try. This should not happen to anyone else. Nobody should have to go through what these families have experienced.

If you are a Boise State University student you have free access to the OED. From the Library homepage > articles, databases > scroll down to the Oxford English Dictionary > login using your BroncoWeb student information.

I encourage others to look it up on their own and observe the historical progression of the word. If it was the lawmakers intention to put an unreasonable pressure on the citizens of this state. What jury can properly define an unspecified percentage of guilt? I don't think the wording was supposed to be that complicated.

Dawnepooh

I am the mother of the groom and I have got a "Wonderful Daughter", not just a daughter-in-law, through the marriage. She is such a good wife and mother. I just love talking with her.

I feel very lucky and blessed to have her in our family.

So what I'm hearing is that this mike martin guy needs to be held responsible because a girl that was way passed the legal limit drove drunk, wrecked her car, killing herself and another individual. And instead of being home with his "wife & kids" this James fella was out getting drunk, high and fornicating with other women during the wee hours of the morning. It's amazing that society has to always find a way to place blame on others to make themselves feel better.

There is only one fact that I see in this case and it is cut and dry, Juanita got drunk, Juanita drove and Juanita died and her passengers assumed that same risk by their thoughts, actions & behaviors.

Impartial2day: Thank you! While I feel for the families of the deceased I cannot abide by the fact that everyone in this accident was drunk and Juanita and Mike had no business driving. She was just as at fault. Mike's just the scapegoat. Mike did not hit them, he drag raced them. If any of you went to the trial and heard the tapes of the interviews and 911 calls, you would know this. He did something incredibly stupid, yes. He's broken his probation, yes and I don't agree with any of it, but it's not his fault Juanita and Robert died.They died due to her being inexperienced and drunk driver. Brita and Troy were lucky to make it out alive. If you're going to convict him, do it for driving under the influence or reckless behavior. Were you all out there? Do you know what really happened? Why did it take the ambulance 45 minutes to get out there, and yes he did call right after it happened. He had to call them twice as a matter of fact. So, citizens, go to the trial in December, THE WHOLE TRIAL. Then make an educated decision. Not follow one that the newspaper plants on you.

The accident never would have happened had Martin not been there.....Thats a fact. You are correct about the drunk driving. Martin has a violent and wreckless past to say the least..It was only a matter of time before something like this was bound to happen. He almost killed himself when he drove his friends car into the back of that pick up truck on E 10th N street 5 years ago going at least 50 mph, drunk, and leaving the scene of the accident. He is on trial fighting for his freedon, his life, his children, whatever, but couldnt even manage to obey his probation, which in my opinion is enough to say he has no remorse and does not seem to care, only about himself.

mtnhomemama & Impartial2day: Wow! I certainly hope that nothing like this ever happens to you or your family. You can't imagine the pain and frustration this has caused the families of those that lost a loved one! I greatly wish that you could sit in the court room and listen to the 911 tape from that night. That as well as the testimonies would maybe shed some light for you.

Mike: Trying to keep this polite will be difficult.. finally you speak on your feelings..not that a word of it is worth believeing. You have no remorse, your pattern shows that. Your time for justice will come, I am only sorry it has taken this long.