The Idaho State Journal, with reporting by Jimmy Hancock and including video footage, covers the case:
U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ryan Douglas Nelson is accused of two misdemeanors — battery and malicious injury to property — after authorities say he assaulted a man by yanking glasses from his face, tossing them across an asphalt lot, and stomping on them during an April dispute over a parking space in Idaho Falls….
The accuser contends Nelson’s pickup was angled to improperly occupy a space — most of the truck occupying a single stall with the right-front tire and bumper crossing the right line into the adjacent spot, and the left rear extending over the left line into the space on the left, effectively blocking three spots in front of nearby shops.
As the accuser was stepping out of his white pickup, Nelson began to move his own vehicle, prompting the alleged victim to speak up.
“I told him to learn how to park,” the man said, repeating the remark. “That is when he lost his composure.” …
“In an interview with the police, Nelson admitted knocking the glasses from the man’s head but said he did not touch him. He also acknowledged stomping on the glasses,” according to a police affidavit.
See also Bloomberg Law (Jacqueline Thomsen & Suzanne Monyak).
UPDATE: I originally stated that Nelson had been arrested; he was charged without an initial arrest. My apologies for the error, which has since been corrected.
