Balke-Thompson pleads guilty to willful injury in Lake City knife case

A Farnhamville man pleaded guilty Sept. 18 to willfully causing a bodily injury in an April 30 fight in Lake City.
Christian Balke-Thompson, 23, was originally charged with attempted murder for a fight that left Dylan Pederson injured. Calhoun County Attorney Tina Meth Farrington and defense attorney Arch Wilson reached the plea agreement, which included a recommended sentence that Balke-Thompson live in a residential correctional facility, and presented it to Judge William C. Ostlund at the plea change and sentencing hearing Sept. 18.
Ostlund accepted the guilty plea and the sentence recommendation, which also included waiving attorney fees for Balke-Thompson, who has been incarcerated since May awaiting trial.
“We have (talked with) the victim,” Wilson said, explaining to Ostlund how the sentence recommendation came about. “The recommendation of the county attorney is consistent with the victim’s wishes.” 
Read more in the Sept. 27 edition.