Two brothers brought up on felony charges in connection with a 2024 ownership dispute over a utility trailer saw their cases dismissed in Flathead County District Court earlier this year. 

Cory Lyle Mitchell, 38, and Cody Lee Mitchell, 40, both pleaded not guilty to assault with a weapon charges in separate cases following the July 13, 2024 disagreement on Conrad Drive that prosecutors alleged ended in gunfire. Judge Heidi Ulbricht presided over Cory Mitchell's case while Judge Dan Wilson oversaw Cody Mitchell's case.  

Prosecutors with the Flathead County Attorney's Office filed motions to dismiss on March 3, 2025. In both, prosecutors cited the victim's unwillingness to participate as the reason for the request.  

Wilson and Ulbricht ordered the cases dismissed that same day.  

Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested the pair after Cory Mitchell alerted authorities to a shooting on Conrad Drive, telling dispatchers he had opened fire on a man he accused of stealing a trailer, according to court documents. The target of the shooting phoned in a report of gunfire about the same time, court documents said.  

Both brothers allegedly admitted firing their guns during the confrontation in subsequent interviews with investigators. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].