A former Soldotna Police Department clerk, who is the wife of a city police officer arrested in July for assault, pleaded not guilty today to two felony charges filed against her in connection with the assault.
A grand jury indicted Samantha Bower on charges of influencing a witness and second-degree theft in late October. Bower made her first court appearance in the case Thursday afternoon in a Kenai courtroom.
Bower is married to Soldotna police officer David Bower, who was arrested in July on a misdemeanor assault charge. In charging documents, Alaska State Troopers say he assaulted and injured a family member.
Samantha Bower’s charges cite an incident near the same date as the assault. The grand jury interviewed two witnesses: the trooper who investigated that assault and the family member David Bower allegedly assaulted.
He has since been charged with violating the conditions of release for drinking while participating in a court-ordered alcohol monitoring program. His attorney blames that on a false positive test result.
During Thursday’s hearing in Samantha Bower’s case, Superior Court Judge Lance Joanis ordered her not to have any contact with the victim in the assault case, who is the witness she’s accused of influencing.
Samantha Bower was interviewed by troopers before David Bower’s July arrest. A trooper affidavit also includes text messages between Samantha and the victim.
Samantha was set for an initial court hearing Nov. 7, but that was rescheduled after two superior court judges recused themselves.
The first did so because he knew the prosecutor personally, but the second, Kelly Lawson, said in her request for reassignment that Samantha had texted her a casual message around the time of David’s arrest. Lawson wrote she’d had no contact with Samantha since then, but she did not want to give the impression she would not hear the case fairly.
An attorney representing both Samantha and David Bower did not respond to a request for comment.
The next court hearing in Samantha Bower’s case is set for Dec. 13.
