Carson City man enters no-contest plea to battery

A Carson City man entered a no-contest Alford plea Tuesday in district court to the brutal beating of a man on a rooftop in downtown Carson City on Aug. 14.

Josh Cook, 26, faces a maximum of six years in prison after the beating, where the victim was flown to a Reno hospital for his injuries, including fractured nasal bones and eye socket fractures, according to the arrest report.

According to the plea agreement, the district attorney’s office will not seek restitution from Cook.

Although Cook entered a no-contest plea, known as an Alford plea, both the prosecution and defense agreed there was ample evidence to go to trial. The Alford plea allows a defendant to plead guilty while still asserting one’s innocence.

Cook’s alleged assault on the victim was caught on a Carson City Public Works video camera pointed at the roof of a building in the 100 block of Proctor Street. The video showed the victim walking up to the roof and then hiding behind air conditioning units before the man identified as Cook chased. The man identified as Cook picked up the victim’s body and slammed it to the ground and then choked him to unconsciousness. The footage shows the man then punched the unconscious victim seven times in the face, stomped on his head, kicked him in the face and then punched him two more times.

Sheriff Ken Furlong spoke with Cook shortly before the victim placed a 911 call. Cook was coming down the stairs from the roof and Furlong asked him about a cut to his forehead. Cook then ran toward Telegraph Street, the sheriff in pursuit, and apprehended.

Cook told investigators the victim punched him in the face and that Cook chased him.

Cook’s sentencing is set at 9 a.m. July 9.

ALSO IN DISTRICT COURT

• Kimberly Foxon, of Carson City, asked Judge James Russell to sentence her to prison instead of parole on a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. The recommendation from the Division of Parole and Probation was for 19 months to four years in prison.

Her defense attorney, Ben Walker, argued a sentence of a year to four years would do the same amount of good as the extra seven months.

“If she doesn’t do well (in prison,) she would be spending 48 months (there,)” he said.

Deputy District Attorney Melanie Porter said Foxon had done nothing to earn a potential of a single year in prison, before being eligible for parole.

Foxon told Judge Russell the prison’s treatment program would do her good.

“I’m not a suitable candidate for parole,” she told him.

Russell told her the extra months in prison were because of her criminal record and that she has already had opportunities presented to her.

• Janna Hinsen of Carson City pleaded guilty to transporting a controlled substance and faces a year to six years in prison and up to a $20,000 fine. Sentencing was set for June 18.

• Nicole Fether was given diversion on a charge of conspiracy to violate the controlled substances act and put on probation for at least three years.