BATTLE MOUNTAIN - A status hearing was held Aug. 6 for Keith Monroe Wells, 50, of Carson City, in a case involving the alleged theft of scrap metal from M I Drilling Fluids.
Wells was not in court but his attorney, Ted Herrera, and District Attorney Angie Elquist were there.
Herrera requested that the case be remanded back to justice court and Sixth Judicial District Court Judge Richard Wagner accepted the request based on Elquist agreeing to it. Wagner stressed that he was remanding the case not by the court's finding but because Elquist consented to it being remanded.
It is not known yet when the case will be scheduled for a preliminary hearing in the Argenta Justice Court.
Herrera also told the judge at the hearing that an attorney had called him on behalf of Wells and said he would be taking over the case.
Wells, who pleaded guilty per a plea agreement to attempted removal, damage or destruction of certain property to obtain scrap metal, had his plea rejected by Wagner in district court on July 16.
The July 16 arraignment hearing had been continued from the first part of the hearing that was held June 2.
Wagner entered a not guilty plea on Wells' behalf, stating that he could find no criminal intent at the hearing.
He said he could not accept Wells' guilty plea since he could not see where a crime had been committed because the defendant told the judge he thought he was removing wire from an abandoned mine site.
In the plea agreement, which Wells signed July 2, Wells agreed that he was guilty of the charged offense and the state agreed to file no other charges against him.
After pleading guilty on July 16, Wells had the opportunity to explain to the judge what had occurred on the day of the alleged crime. He told Wagner that he does prospecting and that he visits old mine sites.
Wells said that he was camping and started poking around the M I Drilling Fluids mine site, thinking it was abandoned. He said it looked abandoned and was only partially fenced. He said he rolled up some copper wire, thinking it was OK to take it, right before a guy came up to him yelling that he was trespassing.
Wells was arrested April 30 on suspicion of burglary, causing more than $500 in damages at M I Drilling Fluids. In addition to burglary, Wells was also arrested on suspicion of possession of burglary tools, grand larceny, malicious destruction of private property and possession of stolen property.
He was initially charged officially by the district attorney's office with burglary, a category B felony, and possession of stolen property, also a category B felony. He was arraigned May 3 in the justice court.
The first amended criminal complaint alleged that on April 30, Wells willfully and maliciously damaged a building belonging to M I Drilling Fluids to obtain scrap metal and that the value of the property was $500 or more.
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