Man charged with vehicular manslaughter
SANDPOINT - Bail is set at $50,000 for a Bonner County man charged in connection with a deadly rollover crash southeast of Clark Fork on Wednesday.
Zachary Bradshaw Palmer is charged with vehicular manslaughter. A hearing to determine if Palmer should be tried on the felony charge is pending in the magistrate division of 1st District Court.
Judge Debra Heise accepted Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Roger Hanlon's bail recommendation on Thursday. If Palmer makes bail, he is forbidden from driving or consuming alcohol or drugs. He also must submit to testing twice a day to monitor his compliance with the terms of his conditional release, court records show.
Palmer, a 20-year-old from Clark Fork, was driving under the influence and in a manner which was likely to endanger people and property, according to charging papers.
The crash killed Tyler James Pesce, an 18-year-old from Hope. Pesce was finishing his studies at Clark Fork Senior High so he could graduate and played football and basketball last year for the Wampus Cats.
The crash happened shortly before 1:30 p.m. on River Road near the Cabinet Gorge Road intersection, Idaho State Police said.
State police said Palmer was driving westbound in a 1981 Chevrolet Corvette at a high rate of speed when he lost control of the sports car.
Trooper Terry Ford said in his report that Palmer went into the ditch on the north side of the road and drove some distance before striking a tree. The Corvette went back onto the road and crossed over to the ditch on the south side, where it struck more trees and overturned, Ford said.
The car landed on its top in the ditch, pinning Pesce inside the vehicle. Palmer was reportedly thrown from the sports car, Ford's report said.
Palmer was taken to Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint with unspecified injuries and was arrested upon his release, court records indicate. A blood draw was taken to determine the level of alcohol in Palmer's bloodstream, but results of the test were pending on Thursday.
Palmer reportedly told Ford he had been drinking with Pesce and another friend on the morning of the crash. He initially thought the other friend, not Pesce, was in the car with him when it crashed.
When Ford advised him Pesce was his passenger, the trooper quoted Palmer saying, "I killed my friend."
Palmer said he remembered nothing about the crash aside from walking home, Ford's report indicated. Palmer had friction burns on the left side of his neck and shoulder, which Ford determined were caused by the seat belt. Ford added in his report that the top of the Corvette was destroyed, which would explain why the restraint failed to keep him in the vehicle when it rolled.
Palmer's defense counsel, Sandpoint attorney Michael Waldrup, sought on Thursday to have his client's case sealed until a preliminary hearing. He also objected to a Spokane television station's camera crew taping his client's initial court appearance, which was conducted via video link from the Bonner County Jail.
Heise noted the objections, but declined to seal the case or eject the TV cameraman.