Asked if he expects to win the case, Schanze said: "It really comes down to, why are they charging me with something that is not a crime and that I didn't do?"

A three-day trial is set to begin May 10 before 3rd District Judge Royal Hansen.

Schanze - the former owner of a chain of computer stores - is charged with "threatening with or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel," a class A misdemeanor.

The 36-year-old Sandy resident is also charged with reckless driving and giving a false written statement to police, both class B misdemeanors.

Schanze has told news reporters he pulled a handgun from his pocket to protect himself from "a gang of vigilantes," one of whom had picked up a rock and threatened to break the taillights on Schanze's black Jaguar. Inside the car was Schanze's 8-year-old daughter.

Prosecutors will argue that the confrontation was not a situation in which the threat of deadly force was warranted.

They will also claim Schanze lied in a written statement by claiming he pulled out a cell phone and offered to call police. The statement never mentions a gun.

- Stephen Hunt