The bail bondsman accused of fatally shooting a 41-year-old man in Missoula in March plans to argue that the use of force was justifiable, according to court documents.  Missoula County prosecutors charged Brandon Wakefield with deliberate homicide after the shooting of Joshua Wykle. Wakefield was a bail bondsman with Mr. Bail, but his license was revoked following the shooting.  On March 4, bondsmen Wakefield and Austin Mistretta, along with Mr. Bail employees Jorrell Nagel and Ryan Smith, came to Missoula to apprehend Wykle, according to charging documents. Video footage showed that the men approached Wykle’s vehicle parked at the Town Pump on Reserve Street. Mistretta allegedly pointed what appeared to be a rifle at the vehicle, according to the documents. When Nagel was walking behind the Saturn, the car began to reverse. Wakefield then raised his gun into a “shooter’s stance,” court documents allege.  Wykle died at the scene. According to charging documents, the other three men identified Wakefield as the shooter when questioned by responding Missoula police officers. In court filings, prosecutors said Wakefield also told officers that he shot toward the victim.  Wakefield pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide March 10. Mistretta pleaded not guilty to attempted assault with a weapon.  Wakefield’s defense attorney, Nathan Hulling with Missoula firm Holloway and Hulling, filed the notice of affirmative defense last month, notifying the court that Wakefield intends to assert the defense of justifiable use of force. This includes, under state law, “the use of force likely to cause death or serious bodily harm in defense of self, others, property or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony or escape,” the document said. Hulling did not respond to a request for comment before publication.    The witnesses that would be called to support this defense are Wakefield, the other members of the fugitive recovery team — Mistretta, Nagel and Smith — and Anna Yarbro and Kenneth Holmes of Mr. Bail, according to the affirmative defense document. The defense also anticipates calling expert witnesses, but none have been identified yet.  Wakefield was released after posting a $200,000 bail March 16. His next hearing is scheduled for May 26.  Wakefield and Mistretta were issued temporary bail bondsman licenses Feb. 11, less than a month before the shooting, according to the auditor’s office. The men had one year to complete the required training, and while they likely had started, those records would be kept by their employer, Ted Bidon, bureau chief and head of investigations at the auditor’s office, told MTFP in March. The state suspended and later revoked both their licenses following the shooting. Nagel and Smith were unlicensed after failing the licensing test multiple times in February. The state auditor’s office has been investigating Mr. Bail’s Billings location since October. After the shooting, the auditor’s office suspended its license and ordered it to cease and desist all operations in Montana. The state auditor’s office also suspended Yarbro’s license in March. Attorneys representing her and Mr. Bail appealed the suspension and the cease-and-desist order. An appeal hearing is scheduled for August.   Brittany Williams, the Missoula County prosecutor for Wakefield and Mistretta’s cases, earlier this month declined to comment on whether Nagel or Smith will be charged. Williams said the investigation into Wykle’s death and a state investigation are ongoing. Williams told MTFP in an email Wednesday that she has no comment regarding Wakefield’s planned defense. The post Bail bondsman accused of fatal Missoula shooting plans to argue self-defense appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less