Judge won't fuse cases in PL murder
Consolidation question might be revisited later
SANDPOINT - Murder cases pending against two suspects implicated in the shooting death of a Priest Lake man will remain separate for the time being, a district judge ruled on Monday.
Defense counsel for one of the accused, Tyrah Brea Brown, called for the cases to be consolidated out of judicial economy and because neither defendant is claiming the other shot Leslie Carlton Breaw to death last year.
Linda Payne contrasted the case against her client and cases against Christopher Alan Lewers and Kenneth Eugene Thurlow, who were accused of gunning down a Sandpoint man in 2005. In that case, one defendant accused the other of firing the deadly gunshot.
“There are not competing defenses as there were ultimately in the Lewers and Thurlow cases,” Payne said.
Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Louis Marshall opposed fusing the cases because it could complicate jury instruction and thwart a defendant's right to confront accusations made by another.
“There are serious Bruton doctrine concerns,” Marshall said, referring to a U.S. Supreme Court case addressing confessions and accusations in joint trials.
Justices in that case held that the admission into evidence of a non-testifying codefendant's out-of-court confession violates the confrontation clause if the confession incriminates the other defendant.
Counsel for Keith Brown, who is Tyrah Brown's husband, is also opposing consolidation. However, Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson asked for permission to revisit the matter if need be.
“Mr. Brown and his team don't want to close that door. It may be appropriate later on,” Robertson said.
District Judge John Patrick Luster decided against consolidating the cases on Monday, citing the due process concerns were raised.
Tyrah Brown, 26, and Keith Brown, 47, are charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Breaw, whose remains were discovered outside his home in March 2006. He was shot once in the face with a .22-caliber rifle on Jan. 23, 2007, authorities allege.
Tyrah Brown allegedly confessed to shooting thte 48-year-old Breaw, but Payne said on Monday that the confession was coerced by investigators in Florida, where the couple was apprehended. Keith Brown has maintained Breaw was accidentally shot as he struggled with him over control of the weapon.
The couple, which is also accused of stealing a $50,000 escrow check from Breaw, are being held with bail set at $5 million each. Payne asked the court to lower Tyrah Brown's bail because the current sum is effectively “no bail.”
“This is simply unreasonable, excessive and highly prejudicial to Ms. Brown,” said Payne.
Marshall opposed a reduced bail because of flight risk. He pointed out that Tyrah Brown absconded from probation in Montana and fled Idaho in a bid to avoid prosecution in Breaw's killing.
Given Tyrah Brown's meager income, Luster ruled $5 million bail was “excessive” under the circumstances.
“A substantial reduction is in order,” said Luster, who lowered her bail to $1 million.
After the hearing, Payne expressed doubt her client would be able to make the reduced bail.