DICKINSON, N.D.
Melissa Cady-Angerer, a 27-year-old Dickinson woman charged in connection to an apparent murder-suicide, pleaded not guilty at a hearing Wednesday.
However, Cady-Angerer reportedly stated she intended to plead guilty to the charge at a hearing Aug. 17, but a judge was not present, which complicates the matter.
The bodies of Tracey and Jamie Osborn were found by authorities last month. Authorities speculate that Jamie Osborn killed Tracey Osborn, his wife, and then took his own life.
Cady-Angerer is charged for disobeying a judicial order for allegedly driving Jamie Osborn to Montana, where he later apparently shot himself, according to a Stark County criminal complaint. Cady-Angerer was on probation for a prior theft conviction, which stipulated she was not to leave the state.
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At her Aug. 17 hearing, Cady-Angerer was before a judicial referee, who is stepping in until an open judge position is filled.
The referee does not have the power to sentence or take pleas. Tom Henning, Stark County state's attorney said, though she expressed her intent to plead guilty in front of the referee, it can still be held against her.
However, Henning said the attempted plea can be challenged, especially since her statement was made before she had an attorney.
"... any plea made to the magistrate might be argued by the defense to be ineffective because of the absence of counsel to advise them," Henning said. "But the thing is, even without counsel to advise you, there is nothing to restrict anyone from entering a plea on their own behalf.
"So the other side of the argument is that as long as they had previously indicated a plea of guilty, that we could still use that as an admission in a trial, I mean that would be the argument."
Cady-Angerer's attorney, Kevin McCabe, also asked for her $50,000 bond to be reduced at Wednesday's hearing. He asked that she be released on her own personal recognizance.
However, McCabe said Southwest District Judge Zane Anderson ordered the bond remain unchanged.
"It's just standard procedure. It's the first thing we do -- to go in and see if we can get them out on a PR bond, or something affordable to them or their family," McCabe said. "They can't afford $50,000, so we asked it to be lowered and the judge just felt that $50,000 was adequate in this case, so he left it at that."
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Anderson ordered Cady-Angerer to be held without bond for her alleged probation violation Aug. 19. Therefore, even if her bond for violating a judicial order were lowered, she still would not be released from jail.
It is unclear whether or not Cady-Angerer was aware of what had taken place before she allegedly transported Jamie Osborn to Montana.
"We haven't got any police reports from which to take any further action since her initial appearance in court," Henning said. "I would say in the reasonably near future, we will expect to have something in the way of officer reports, and from that we will make decisions concerning whether further charges are appropriate."
The Dickinson Press and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
