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.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is based in San Francisco with additional courthouses in Pasadena, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle. The appellate court’s jurisdiction includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Nelson also has an office in his hometown of Idaho Falls.

According to the alleged victim, whom the Journal is not identifying because he’s reportedly the victim of a crime, the incident unfolded just after he had pulled into the parking space adjacent to Nelson’s blue pickup truck.

The alleged victim says Nelson’s truck was angled into a parking space — the bulk of his truck in one spot with the right front tire and bumper hanging over the right line and into the spot to the right and the left rear part of the truck hanging over the left line and into the parking space to the left, effectively blocking three parking spots in the lot directly in front of the nearby businesses.

As the alleged victim was exiting his white pickup truck, Nelson started his truck to leave the parking space. That’s when the alleged victim spoke.

“I say ‘learn how to park,’” the alleged victim said. “I said it twice. That’s when he went crazy.”

In a video of the incident obtained by the Journal, the alleged victim walked around the front of Nelson’s truck and toward the entrance of a nearby business when Nelson got out of his truck and walked up to the alleged victim, talking to him and pointing. Nelson can be heard on the video saying he had been parked in the space for only two minutes.

Within roughly 12 seconds of getting out of his truck, Nelson appears as if he swipes toward the face of the alleged victim in an exchange that ends with Nelson grabbing the glasses off of the man’s face and then throwing them roughly 50 feet to the other end of the parking lot.

“He caught my glasses in his finger and that’s when he threw them,” the alleged victim said. “His finger got caught in my glasses.”

The video shows the alleged victim walking toward his glasses to retrieve them when Nelson briefly turns back toward his truck but then quickly turns back toward the alleged victim who stops walking. Nelson then appears to walk several feet to the alleged victim and another verbal exchange ensues with Nelson appearing to take a swipe at the alleged victim’s hand.

“He was trying to grab my phone,” the alleged victim said. “Which made no sense to me.”

Nelson is heard on the video calling the alleged victim “crazy” in addition to a derogatory name. The alleged victim continues to walk toward his glasses as Nelson stands still for a moment, but then suddenly starts running toward the alleged victim. Nelson then passes him and appears to stop where the alleged victim’s glasses were on the asphalt parking lot before lifting his right leg and landing his foot in a stomping motion on the ground.

The alleged victim said Nelson did indeed stomp on his glasses.

The alleged victim reported the incident to the Idaho Falls Police Department the following day, April 3.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed in the 7th Judicial Court, the alleged victim told police that Nelson tried to challenge him to a fight, “asking him if he wants to go.”

The officer who took the report also reached out and spoke to Nelson, court records show.

“When I spoke with Nelson he admitted to knocking his glasses from (the alleged victim’s) head but stated he did not touch him. He also admitted to stomping on his glasses,” the affidavit states.

An attempt was made to reach Nelson at his Idaho Falls office but he did not return a call seeking comment.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is responsible for determining if any judicial disciplinary action against Nelson is warranted, provided the following statement on Thursday afternoon, “The Court is aware of the matter and is awaiting further information and so cannot provide any further comment at this time.”

The U.S. 9th Circuit’s Judicial Council, the governing body of judges that oversees judicial conduct for that circuit, announced on Monday it has formally opened a misconduct investigation against Judge Nelson. Though nobody filed a complaint against him, under U.S. law and Rule 5 of the Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings, a chief judge has authority to self-initiate a complaint based on credible public reporting, even without a third-party complainant.

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Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia identified the complaint herself, citing the Journal’s article and attached video — first published online on June 5 — a piece published by the ABA Journal, and a Bloomberg Law article as the basis.

The order’s public disclosure was required to maintain public confidence in the judiciary’s ability to address misconduct, but the order also notes that everything from here forward will be confidential under U.S. law.

From here, the chief judge will conduct an initial review to determine whether the complaint warrants a full investigation. Judge Nelson may be asked to submit a written response during that process.

If the matter advances, a three-judge panel would be appointed to formally investigate — gathering evidence and potentially taking testimony before reporting its findings to the full Judicial Council.

The council can then impose a range of consequences, from a private or public reprimand to requesting that the judge voluntarily retire. In the most extreme cases, the council can refer the matter to Congress, where the only mechanism for removing a federal judge — whom hold lifetime appointments — is impeachment.

Nelson has been a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge since 2018 after being nominated by President Donald Trump. He replaced N. Randy Smith, of Pocatello, a current senior U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge.

If convicted of both the misdemeanor battery and malicious injury to property charges, Nelson faces up to 18 months in county jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

Idaho State Journal Editor Shelbie Harris contributed to this report.