DISTRICT COURT NEWS Abuser’s plea does not sway judge

A Boulder man who admitted assaulting his girlfriend after a 4 a.m. fight over messages on his cell phone tearfully asked the judge to forgive him August 16. “That’s not my job,” District Court Judge Luke Berger told Beau Peterson. “There are two people who can forgive you,” continued the judge. “She can forgive you and you can forgive yourself.” Peterson was arrested June 20 after the girlfriend called law enforcement and reported he had strangled her to the point of unconsciousness. Peterson was initially charged with felony strangulation of a partner or family member but that charge was reduced in a plea agreement to misdemeanor partner of family member assault. In a letter to the court, Peterson asked for forgiveness and pledged that if given a second chance he would not repeat his offense. “Where you go from here is entirely up to you,” Judge Berger told Peterson. He sentenced Peterson to 365 days with all of it suspended except for time already served. He also ordered Peterson to go through anger management counseling, pay a $1000 fine, and pay up to $250 for his public defend- er’s services plus other costs, fees and surcharges. “Take those for what they’re worth and use them in a positive way,” said the judge. “You’re the only person that can determine whether you’re back here or not.” He also told Peterson, “I think this is a very good deal for you. Thank your attorney.” 

In another case, Michael J. Ferkovich was sentenced to 13 months in the state’s WATCh alcohol treatment program followed by five years suspended for drunk driving. He was also fined $5000 plus fees and surcharges, ordered to undergo a chemical dependency evaluation at his own expense. He was also ordered to have an ignition interlock on his vehicles, to abstain from alcohol and to meet other conditions of his probation. The court file says Ferkovich was stopped in Jefferson County on a warrant out of Broadwater County June 3 and was found to have a blood-alcohol level of .294, more than three times the legal limit. His defense attorney, Gabriel Valentine, told the court Ferkov- ich did not cause any accidents while driving, is on 100 percent military disability, and had gone through some bad times with PTSD. Ferkovich was on track to get a sentence of five years with all but 30 days in jail suspended for the Broadwater County offense “but that went away with this DUI,” said Valentine. Valentine argued that making the Jefferson County sentence consecutive with five years already pronounced in Broadwater County, as the prosecutive recommended to the judge, was too harsh. “He’s already been punished severely for this offense,” said Valentine. Judge Berger did not buy arguments that Ferkovich only has trouble when drinking, saying, “If it was a bender, it was a ten month bender, and you went to treatment in the middle of it.” Pointing out that Ferkovich’s criminal record included at least four felonies, the judge said, “This is three pages of a criminal history, and it is small type.” Calling Ferkovich “dangerous when drinking,” the judge said, “I have to put society’s protection at the forefront.” The judge made the five years for the Jefferson County offense consecutive with the Broadwater sentence, saying Ferkovich needs monitoring for a longer time to protect others on the road. 

David Lee Book was in court after being arrested on two warrants from two different counties in Washington state. Charges there include theft, identity theft and failure to appear in court. Book agreed to return to Washington, waiving extradition. Judge Berger ordered Book held for three weeks without bond. At that point, if Book is still in Jefferson County, he can be released by posting a $15,000 bond, and if Washington officials do not come for him within a total of five weeks he can be released and bond exonerated, said the judge.