Police: US 9th Circuit judge faces battery charge after parking lot confrontation turns physical in Idaho Falls

JIMMY HANCOCK Correspondent Jun 5, 2026


U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ryan Douglas Nelson.
Screenshot/Senate Judiciary Committee

IDAHO FALLS — U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ryan Douglas Nelson faces two criminal charges after police say he battered a man by swiping the glasses from his face, tossing them across an asphalt lot and stomping on them during an April confrontation over a parking space in Idaho Falls. ... Nelson, 52, of Idaho Falls, has been charged by Idaho Falls city prosecuting attorney Zachary H. Jones with battery and malicious injury to property, both misdemeanors, in Idaho’s 7th Judicial District Court, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.

The alleged incident occurred in a parking lot on Memorial Drive in Idaho Falls the afternoon of April 2. Nelson is alleged to have engaged in a verbal dispute with another Idaho Falls resident over a parking space that escalated into a physical altercation, court records show. ... Jones confirmed the charges filed against Nelson but would not comment further. ... “Given the potential high-profile nature of the case, I want to be cautious and make sure we have a clean process,” Jones said.

When reached for comment Thursday, Nelson's Idaho Falls attorney of record in the case, Curtis R. Smith of Smith Woolf Anderson & Wilkinson, said, “Mr. Nelson maintains a presumption of innocence. He will work through the judicial system to resolve these personal charges which allegedly resulted in a pair of broken sunglasses and are unrelated to his professional position.”

Nelson was charged April 22 and entered not guilty pleas to both charges May 13, court records show. He is scheduled for a pretrial conference hearing in front of 7th District Magistrate Judge John C. Dewey at the Bonneville County Courthouse in Idaho Falls on June 18. ... The purpose of the pretrial conference hearing is to exchange evidence, negotiate plea agreements and manage the court schedule to either resolve the incident without trial or to prepare for trial.

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