APRIL BAUMGARTEN
The Forum
The son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer is scheduled to go to trial later this month in North Dakota in connection to a high-speed vehicle pursuit that killed a sheriff’s deputy, but a plea deal could be in the works.
Ian Matthew Cramer, 43, of Bismarck, appeared Wednesday in Mercer County District Court, where he faces multiple charges. That includes a felony count of homicide while fleeing law enforcement for the Dec. 6 death of 53-year-old Mercer County Deputy Paul Martin.
Cramer also faces felony charges of fleeing a peace officer in a vehicle, preventing arrest and reckless endangerment, as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of meth, cocaine, drug paraphernalia and driving with a suspended license. He also was cited for a marijuana infraction.
The charges allege Cramer fled from law enforcement when spotted in Hazen, about 70 miles northwest of Bismarck. Officers tried to stop Cramer after reports that he stole his mother’s 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe from Sanford Hospital in Bismarck about an hour earlier, according to court documents.
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Cramer’s mother, Kris, took him to the hospital out of concern for his mental health, according to the Bismarck Police Department. While his mother was talking to hospital staff in the emergency room, Cramer crawled into the driver seat of the Tahoe, backed into the north garage door of the ER bay and sped away, according to court documents.
As Cramer fled law enforcement out of Hazen, he drove over a tire deflation device that was set up on Highway 200 about 3 miles west of the city, court documents said. Martin and Beulah Police Chief Frank Senn set up another deflation device about 4 miles west of Hazen on the highway, court documents said.
Martin took cover behind his squad vehicle and he was launched into a ditch when Cramer hit the patrol vehicle, according to court documents. Cramer was allegedly driving at more than 100 mph at the time of the crash, court documents said.
Paul Martin
Martin died at the scene.
Cramer faces felony theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment charges in Burleigh County District Court for the Sanford Hospital incident. That trial is scheduled to begin in early November.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in the two cases.
The four-day trial in Mercer County is slated to begin Sept. 24. Mercer County State’s Attorney Todd Schwarz said Wednesday that he is speaking to Martin’s family about a possible plea deal.
He did not discuss the details of the settlement in court, adding he wanted to speak with Martin’s family first before finalizing it.
Cramer’s court-appointed attorney, Kevin McCabe, expressed concerns about a doctor not turning in a criminal responsibility evaluation for Ian Cramer yet.
The evaluation could provide a defense for Cramer. North Dakota law says a person is not criminally responsible for a crime if they lack a “substantial capacity to comprehend the harmful nature or consequences” of their actions, or if a “loss or serious distortion” of a person’s ability to recognize reality is why they acted the way they did.
McCabe has not said what defense he would use in Cramer’s case.
The doctor said he would finish the evaluation next week, the public defender said. Judge Bobbi Weiler said she didn’t want to unnecessarily delay the trial.
“Mr. Cramer has been in jail for almost a year,” she said. “He needs to go to trial soon.”
The court has screened 160 potential jurors, Weiler said. One hundred will be asked to come to court for voir dire, a process in which attorneys ask potential jurors questions in an attempt to narrow the field and seat an unbiased jury.
Some potential jurors have been dismissed due to conflicts, including a Mercer County deputy, Mercer County jail nurse who is married to a Beulah police officer and two people related to Schwarz.
Weiler said 12 people, plus alternates, would make up the jury for Cramer’s trial.
Ian Cramer is the son of Kevin Cramer, a Republican who has represented North Dakota in the U.S. Senate since 2019.
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Publish date : 2024-09-05 05:59:00
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