The trial for a Helena man accused of punching Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton in the face at the Last Chance Stampede and Fair ended in a hung jury on May 20.
Skylar Dexter Ittner, 28, sat through hours of testimony and exhibits during his one-and-a-half day trial where witnesses recounted the events reported July 27 at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds.
He was charged with felony assault on a peace officer. Those in attendance of the trial could hear Dutton shout in bodycam footage after allegedly being punched by the defendant in a scuffle that went to the ground.
After roughly four hours of jury deliberations, the verdict form read "hung" late Tuesday as Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley held it up to attorneys.
Prosecutors said Wednesday they will be refiling charges and intend to go to trial unless a plea agreement is met.
The incident reportedly took place about 4 p.m. inside the fairgrounds pavilion in front of a Lewis and Clark Republican Central Committee booth shrouded in "MAGA" paraphernalia supporting President Donald Trump.
Rebecca Stockton, who worked at the booth, testified that workers at the booth would typically not engage in conversations with people, but rather listen.
She said she learned of the incident when she returned to the booth and saw Ittner speaking with one of the attendants.
"Our policy is if someone comes and approaches the booth and wants to talk about issues, we don't engage with the opposite issues. We just let them talk," Stockton said.
She was walking around the fair with her daughter when she returned to the booth and learned Ittner was being "disruptive." He was asked to leave multiple times, she said, but he refused.
"He kept telling us that President Trump had made a statement at an event that said 'If you vote for me, you'll never have to vote again,'" she testified.
Stockton said he raised his voice because he wanted to be heard.
"It was getting a little heated," said Stockton's husband, Tom, who was at the booth.
A video filmed by a bystander was shown, but did not explicitly show Ittner striking Dutton.
Body camera footage from Dutton was also shown to the jury, but again, did not show Ittner punching him.
The sheriff's body camera was the only available body cam footage Helena Police Department detectives could find as the other reserve deputies involved did not have their cameras activated.
During the sheriff's testimony he was pressed by defense attorney Brent Flowers about being angry during the incident, which Dutton denied numerous times.
Flowers cited hearing Dutton's conversation after the incident with Deputy Sheriff Brent Colbert.
"Do you remember making an angry statement to him about what had happened ... and do you remember you said, imitating Skylar, 'Don't touch me,' and then you said 'f--- you, you're being told to move and I'm going to touch you. I'll help you move,'" Flowers asked.
Dutton said he remembered keeping his body camera on the entire way home, but did not specifically remember saying that to Colbert.
The sheriff acknowledged if Flowers heard that in a recording then he said it.
Dutton described making initial contact with Ittner using a "chest-bump" that he said typically moved people along without hassle. That didn't work this time.
"I've done this for 35 years and helped people move and stay out of trouble. Our goal is not to make an arrest, but to keep the peace," Dutton said.
When Ittner was told to leave by Dutton he refused.
"The next time I said, 'Yeah it's time for you to go.' You move in bump them with your chest and I've never had anyone go, 'Oh I want to fight,'" he said. "But that was not the case in this one."
Dutton said he was "sucker punched" after he did not realize Ittner got his left hand free from another reserve deputy involved.
The initial report filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court states Dutton was kicked by Ittner, but none of the witness testimony could positively identify that occurred.
Courtesy, Lewis and Clark County Detention Center
There was debate between attorneys if it was possible for Ittner to hit Dutton with his left hand while on his stomach.
Ultimately, the argument was inconclusive without much visual evidence of the defendant using his left hand to hit the sheriff.
Dutton said he was embarrassed by the situation because the rare incident in his career could have been different if he changed the way he approached Ittner. He said he should have noticed the signs Ittner showed, including a clenched jaw and tensed body, and arrested him.
The injuries Dutton suffered from the alleged incident resulted in laser eye surgery and a bruised face, according to the sheriff.
"Well you shouldn't have f---ing shoved me then," Ittner was heard saying on bodycam footage shown during the trial.
"(Law enforcement) was trying to keep me pinned down and I was scared that if they succeeded they would beat me up," Ittner said in his testimony.
The defendant called others outside of the booth in his testimony "hostile" after they called him a "snowflake." He felt one person in the booth gave him a feeling they were interested in what he had to say after he was offered an opportunity to write down a link to a video of Trump's statements.
"Everything happened so quickly ... in those situations everything was in slow motion and fast at the same time," Ittner said.
Ittner believed law enforcement could not tell him to leave the booth after booth workers requested he move along because he was not doing anything illegal.
When asked in cross-examination by Lewis and Clark County prosecutor Mary Barry if he could have handled the situation differently, Ittner said he felt everyone involved could have handled it differently.
Ittner was also asked about comments made in a previous report where he mentioned he would sue Dutton. When he was asked by Barry if that was still his intention, he replied, "Absolutely."
The argument about whether the arrest was legal or a violation of First Amendment (free speech) rights should not be part of the jury's discussions, Barry said.
She outlined the jury instruction supporting her statement. The prosecution's obligation to the jury was to prove that Ittner punched Dutton and did so knowingly or purposely.
Flowers argued no one was saying there was no contact, but that it was accidental. He cited the law regarding assault on a peace officer.
"There is no way in the world that Skylar Ittner purposely or intentionally punched Leo Dutton," Flowers said. "I am sorry that he got injured."
Ittner's next hearing will be Sept. 4 for a final pre-trial conference and his new trial date was set for Sept. 29 at 9 a.m.
