ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The eldest son of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will go through Alaska’s therapeutic court system in a criminal case accusing him of assaulting his father last year at the family home.
State District Judge David Wallace on Tuesday approved Track Palin’s request to formally transfer his case to Veterans Court, which gives eligible veterans the option of enrolling in mental health treatment programs instead of a traditional sentence.
The judge also barred the media from using cameras or other recording devices during that proceeding after Track Palin’s attorney filed a motion seeking to prohibit or limit media access. Wallace said he will formally rule on the matter later.
Media attorney John McKay is representing The Associated Press and Anchorage TV stations KTUU and KTVA in the matter. His request to allow media camera use Tuesday was denied.
The motion to limit media access was filed Friday by Track Palin’s attorney, Patrick Bergt, in an effort to ensure the case does not become a distraction to other veterans in the system.
Track Palin, 29, attended the short proceeding.
Veterans Court program rules say veterans opt in by agreeing to plead guilty or not guilty to at least one charge.
Bergt declined to say if his client is making such a plea to get into the program, adding he can’t comment on specifics of the case.
“I will, however, provide that Mr. Palin will not seek, nor will he receive, any accommodations not afforded to other Veterans in the program,” Bergt wrote in an email to the AP.
Wallace was appointed to the bench by Sarah Palin when she was Alaska’s governor. McKay said he has no issue with Wallace overseeing the case.
Track Palin was arrested in December after his mother told authorities her son was on some kind of medication and “freaking out.” According to a police affidavit, Track’s father Todd Palin was bleeding from head cuts. He told police the dispute began when his son called to pick up his truck from the Palins’ home in Wasilla.
The affidavit states Todd Palin said he told Track Palin not to come to the house but that his son said he would come anyway to beat him up. Todd Palin told police he got his pistol “to protect his family.”
Track Palin told police he broke a window, disarmed his father and put him on the ground.
A Wasilla police officer wrote in the affidavit that Todd and Sarah Palin had left the home when police arrived and that she was visibly upset.
Track Palin called officers peasants and yelled at them, and “moved around in a strange manner” before being arrested without incident, the affidavit says.
He told police he “consumed a few beers earlier,” according to the document.
In January, Track Palin pleaded not guilty to a felony burglary charge in the incident. He also faces misdemeanor charges of assault and criminal mischief.
In 2016, Track Palin was suspected of punching his then-girlfriend, who then became concerned that he was going to shoot himself with a rifle, according to court documents. He faced several charges but pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm while intoxicated, and the other charges were dismissed.
His then-girlfriend later filed for custody of their child and requested a protective order against Track Palin, who served in Iraq for a year in 2008.
Sarah Palin indicated that post-traumatic stress disorder might have been a factor in that case.
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