SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing was postponed Wednesday for a Blanchard man accused of opening fire and seriously wounding two Bonner County sheriff’s deputies last winter.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall and Chief Public Defender Janet Whitney jointly agreed to postpone the hearing in Adam Deacon Foster case because he was recently released from a secure medical facility in Boise operated by the Idaho Department of Correction. Whitney said in the motion that the defense needed additional time to prepare for the hearing as a result of Foster’s detention in Boise.

Bonner County Magistrate Court Judge Tera Hardin granted the stipulated motion on Tuesday, court records show. The hearing, in which a judge determines if the state possesses sufficient evidence to justify a trial in 1st District Court, was reset for Aug. 23.

Foster, 31, is accused of shooting deputies Justin Penn and Michael Gagnon when they attempted to arrest him outside his Mountain View Road home on Jan. 16. Deputies were keen to arrest Foster because he had allegedly made plans to kill a neighbor and vowed to kill law enforcement if they interfered with his plan. Foster bolted around the side of his home and laid in wait for the pursuing deputies, according to court documents.

Despite being shot, Penn and Gagnon returned fire and wounded Foster, who surrendered without further incident. Foster’s fitness to proceed in his prosecution was drawn into question when his defense counsels said he appeared to be having trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality. When Foster first appeared in court, he said two men in plainclothes were attempting to snatch and kill him. He insisted that neither Penn nor Gagnon, both of whom were uniformed, were present during the clash.

Foster is being held at the Bonner County Jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

He is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.