Physical Altercations With Two Wives, DUI Draws Suspension Of Now Former Prosecutor
The Idaho Supreme Court has suspended an attorney for five years with one year withhheld
The formal charge case related to the following conduct. In February 2021, Mr. Calbo was involved in a physical altercation with his then-wife, J.C., who called 911 and alleged that Mr. Calbo had assaulted her in their Oregon home. With respect to that incident, Mr. Calbo pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and harassment pursuant to a plea agreement. The Oregon court entered a deferred disposition and placed Mr. Calbo on unsupervised probation. In September 2021, while on probation, Mr. Calbo was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Mr. Calbo pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI pursuant to a plea agreement and was sentenced to 10 days in jail and a one-year probation. In the assault case, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail, to run concurrent with his sentence in the DUI case.
In June 2023, while serving as the Jerome County Prosecuting Attorney, Mr. Calbo was involved in a physical altercation with his current wife, D.C., while on vacation in Oregon. D.C. reported the incident to Oregon law enforcement which resulted in Mr. Calbo’s arrest. Upon pretrial release, the Oregon court entered a no-contact order (“NCO”) prohibiting Mr. Calbo from having any contact with D.C. In July 2023, after the Oregon court denied Mr. Calbo’s motion to modify the terms of his release and the NCO, Mr. Calbo had direct contact with D.C. at their Jerome residence. Mr. Calbo then attempted to circumvent arrest when Jerome law enforcement visited that residence. Mr. Calbo returned to Oregon pursuant to a bench warrant for violation of the NCO and continued to communicate with D.C. in violation of the NCO. In September 2023, Mr. Calbo pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault and attempted strangulation and was sentenced to a 90-day jail term and 36-month probation. Also in September 2023, Mr. Calbo resigned as the Jerome County Prosecuting Attorney. He subsequently admitted that he continued to communicate with D.C. in violation of the Oregon court’s NCO. In March 2024, Mr. Calbo pleaded guilty to resisting and obstructing an officer in Jerome County.
Boise State Public Radio reported
Jerome County Commissioners moved to appoint a new prosecutor Monday after the previous prosecutor resigned amid domestic violence charges.
The commissioners’ choice, current deputy prosecuting attorney Sam Bues, was not present at the county meeting Monday, but will officially be sworn in within the next week.
Jeromy County Commissioner Charles Howell said he checked Bues’ background with several sources.
“City administrators, local judges, local attorneys, Twin Falls attorneys,” he said. “And I have yet to get a bad reference back for Sam.”
Bues has been Jerome’s acting prosecutor for the past several months. That’s because previous County Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Bradley Calbo, who resigned in September, has been serving a jail sentence in Oregon on domestic violence charges, after he entered a “no contest” plea. He was first arrested in June.
Howell said commissioners nearly asked a judge to remove Calbo for not serving in his elected role for the 90-day vacancy threshold, but he ended up submitting his resignation.
“He disappeared, approximately, for a month, or six weeks, or so. There was no communication, we couldn’t find him, he would not respond to emails or text messages or phone calls,” Howell said in an interview.
The county’s Republican Central Committee failed to identify a qualified candidate to replace Calbo. This left Jerome County Commissioners open to appointing an out-of-county prosecutor. Bues lives in Twin Falls.
According to Idaho code, he can serve the remainder of Calbo’s term, but if elected by voters next year, he’ll have to move to Jerome by January 2025.
(Mike Frisch)