Man who killed ex-girlfriend, unborn child will keep guilty plea but raises concerns about prosecutor - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

Man who killed ex-girlfriend, unborn child will keep guilty plea but raises concerns about prosecutor

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DRIGGS — Sentencing for a Jackson man who killed his ex-girlfriend and her unborn child will continue as previously planned after the defendant withdrew a motion that would have withdrawn his guilty plea.

Erik Ohlson, 42, filed the new motion Wednesday through his defense attorney, Jim Archibald, and cited concerns with the prosecutor’s behavior when Ohlson entered a guilty plea on Feb. 14. Ohlson admitted that he shot 39-year-old Jennifer Nalley to death on July 5, 2016. Nalley was 8-12 weeks pregnant at the time.

In the new follow-up motion, Ohlson’s legal team asks Judge Bruce Pickett to ignore the plea withdrawal motion and details concerns they have with the sentencing process.

“Since that time (the guilty plea), the prosecutor has made repeated efforts to skew the sentencing process in her favor in a manner more benefiting of an advocate for the victim than a minister of justice,” the motion reads.

The motion outlines how Ohlson pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and one count of voluntary manslaughter in exchange for the prosecution to not seek the death penalty. The agreement stipulated that the defense would argue for a sentence no lower than 10 years fixed and the prosecution could argue any sentence less than death.

The defense claims in the motion that Teton County Prosecutor Billie Siddoway retained her own psychological expert in the case and “repeatedly and unsuccessfully implored the Court to allow this expert to interview Mr. Ohlson.” Ohlson’s team also claims Siddoway attempted to subpoena Ohlson’s privileged medical records from the jail. This request was denied by the courts before a hearing was ever held.

Siddoway provided her entire discovery file to the court-appointed psychologist to conduct a violence risk assessment, all without notifying the defense, the motion states. Archibald claims in the motion that Siddoway provided documents to the presenting investigator without full context from a discovery. The documents detailed text messages between Ohlson and the victim, 39-year-old Jennifer Nalley, who was eight to 12 weeks pregnant when Ohlson shot her to death.

The motion claims this effort of “cherry-picking” was “improper.”

“Based on the prosecutor’s actions in this case, Mr. Ohlson is concerned about his ability to receive a fair and reliable sentencing hearing,” the motion states.

The defense asks Seventh District Judge Bruce Pickett to instruct the pre-sentence investigation writer to disregard the information given to her by Siddoway or appoint a new PSI writer. They also ask the investigation be done without the interference of anyone from the prosecution.

Ohlson is also asking the court to establish parameters for victim impact statements at the sentencing – only allowing Nalley’s immediate family members to make statements.

Ohlson is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9 at the Teton County Courthouse.

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