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Supreme Court orders new trial for Travis Yoney on attempted murder charge

Travis Eugene Yoney, 47, is scheduled to make an initial appearance in district court in Minot today before Judge Gary Lee on a Class A felony attempted murder charge after the Supreme Court ruled that he must be given a new trial on that charge.

He is accused of trying to kill a confidential informant who had informed on him to the Ward County Narcotics Task Force. The incident happened on Aug. 23, 2018. Yoney blamed the other man for his conviction in 2017 of Class B felony delivery of marijuana.

Yoney was convicted at trial in 2019 of Class A felony attempted murder of the confidential informant as well as Class C felony burglary, Class C felony terrorizing, Class C felony reckless endangerment, Class C felony felon in possession of a firearm, and Class A misdemeanor violation of a no contact order and Judge Lee sentenced him to 30 years in prison, with a requirement that he serve 20 years, followed by five years of supervised probation.

The State Supreme Court vacated the attempted murder conviction last month and sent the case back to Judge Lee for a new trial. The other convictions still stand but Yoney must be given a new trial on the attempted murder charge because he was convicted by a jury of “knowing attempted murder,” which the Supreme Court has decided is not allowed under state law because an attempted murder conviction requires proof that a defendant actually intended to cause the death of another person. A “knowing murder” is something different than intentional homicide under the law. “Knowing murder” does not require intent to kill someone but only proof that the defendant knew his actions would almost certainly result in a death. Attempted murder and murder are different offenses under the state statute and there is nothing about “knowing attempted murder” in the statute for attempted murder. The Supreme Court recently granted the defendant a new trial in a Stark County attempted murder case called Pemberton vs. State. Because the circumstances in the Yoney case are so similar to those in the Pemberton case, the Supreme Court decided that Yoney must also be given a new trial.

According to court documents, Yoney went over to the other man’s Minot residence on Aug. 23, 2018 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.

Yoney had also argued that he should get a new trial because his public defender at trial provided ineffective assistance of counsel. The Supreme Court rejected Yoney’s argument and said the defense lawyer did represent Yoney adequately. The 2019 trial happened before the Supreme Court had issued its ruling in the Pemberton case.

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