The State Supreme Court has upheld an attempted murder conviction for Travis Yoney, 46, of Minot.

Yoney tried to kill a confidential informant who had informed on Yoney to the Ward County Narcotics Task Force. According to court documents, Yoney went over to the other man’s Minot residence with a gun and shot into the wall next to the door. He then kicked in the door and pointed a gun at the confidential informant, who was in the kitchen. The other man tackled Yoney and managed to subdue him. A second shot went off and lodged in the kitchen ceiling. A woman and child were also in the home at the time of the incident on Aug. 23, 2018.

His defense attorney had argued that the State illegally amended a criminal judgement after his conviction to include language that Yoney was sentenced as a dangerous special offender because he used a firearm. Yoney’s defense attorney had also argued that Yoney should not have been convicted of attempted murder knowingly committed because it wasn’t proved that he intended to cause the death of the confidential informant. She also argued that he should not have been convicted of both attempted murder and reckless endangerment and there was insufficient evidence to convict him of terrorizing.

Yoney was convicted of burglary, attempted murder, terrorizing, reckless endangerment, unlawful possession of a firearm, and violation of a no contact order and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with a requirement that he serve 20 years.

In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Yoney’s defense attorney did not object to the language regarding “attempted murder knowingly committed” given in the jury instructions at trial and he cannot raise the issue on appeal now. The Supreme Court also ruled that Yoney’s rights were not affected by the state amending the criminal judgement to include dangerous special offender language. All the convictions stand.