Rape suspect waives preliminary hearing

Gillispie to be arraigned April 19

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint man accused of rape and posing as a law officer waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

Ronald Anthony Gillispie is scheduled to be arraigned in 1st District Court on April 19. He is charged with rape, sodomy and impersonating an officer.

Clad in a yellow two-piece jail uniform, Gillispie sat with his legs crossed and answered politely when Judge Barbara Buchanan asked if he understood his right to a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to force a trial on the charges.

In exchange for waiving the hearing, the state agreed not to oppose having Gillispie's bail reduced from $100,000 to $5,000.

Gillispie, 28, was charged after a Feb. 19 incident in which he allegedly gained entry into a developmentally delayed couple's apartment by claiming he was a plainclothes officer investigating bicycle thefts in the complex. Gillispie is accused of assaulting the woman after ordering her husband out of the room.

The woman, according to court records, unsuccessfully attempted to fend off the attack. She identified Gillispie, who was staying with family in the same complex, as her assailant.

Gillispie was arrested on the charges at a Spokane motel on Feb. 26, after investigators learned he was apparently looking for work in Eastern Washington.

In lobbying for reduced bail, Hugh Nisbet, Gillispie's court-appointed defense counsel, said Gillispie has found another place to stay while the charges are pending

"Mr. Gillispie will no longer be living in the apartment complex. He has a place to go," said Nisbet.

To ensure Gillispie does not cross paths with his alleged victim and her husband, Bonner County Prosecutor Phil Robinson asked Buchanan to broaden the no-contact order to include the Boyer Avenue apartment building where the couple lives.