NAMPA, Idaho (AP) - An Idaho man is agreeing to be convicted of lewd conduct with a child under 16 after an appellate court vacated his sex crime convictions involving two white girls because the prosecutor quoting lyrics from the Confederate anthem “Dixie.”
James D. Kirk, 47, who is black, entered an Alford plea Friday in 3rd District Court in Canyon County, the Idaho Press-Tribune reported (https://bit.ly/1HwjkH0 ). An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt but acknowledges that there is enough evidence to convict.
Kirk was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April 2013 after a jury found him guilty of lewd conduct against a 17-year-old girl and sexual battery of a 13-year-old girl in a Nampa motel room.
An appellate court later agreed that Canyon County Deputy Prosecutor Erica Kallin erred in citing a song praising what the judges called pernicious racism, and that it might have influenced the jury even if she didn’t intend it to be racist.
Friday’s plea agreement means attorneys will recommend Kirk be sentenced 12 years in prison, with four years fixed. The agreement also requires Kirk to participate in a treatment program for sex offenders. If successfully completed, a judge could allow Kirk to serve the rest of his sentence on probation.
Kallin said the state did not want to subject the reported victims to another trial.
District Judge Juneal Kerrick called the plea deal “a compromise” for the prosecution and the court.
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Information from: Idaho Press-Tribune, https://www.idahopress.com
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