Hearing set in convict's quest for new trial

SANDPOINT — A Spirit Lake man’s efforts to secure a new trial on a charge of felony vehicular manslaughter are continuing in 1st District Court.

A Bonner County jury convicted Paul James Cavanaugh of the charge and another charge of leaving the scene of an injury crash. Jurors also found that Cavanaugh was driving drunk and recklessly when he hit a pedestrian on Blanchard Cutoff Road on March 10, 2005.

Sarah Marie Jones, an 18-year-old Blanchard resident, was struck and fatally injured by Cavanaugh’s pickup truck as she walked along the road to meet her boyfriend.

District Judge Steve Verby imposed a prison sentence of eight to 15 years on the manslaughter charge. He was also given a concurrent five-year sentence on the charge alleging he left the scene after the crash.

Cavanaugh, 48, testified at trial that he was not driving at the time of the collision, although he was unable to say who because he was heavily intoxicated and experiencing intermittent blackouts. Cavanaugh insisted he was a passenger in the rig.

Cavanaugh subsequently embarked on a quest to obtain a new trial, arguing that he had discovered there were witnesses who reported seeing a woman behind the wheel on the night of the crash.

Those witnesses, however, declined to cooperate with authorities when he was being tried, Cavanaugh said in court documents.

Cavanaugh further argued he should be granted a new trial because ineffective assistance of counsel, claiming exculpatory

blood evidence and photos backing up his assertions were withheld by the defense at trial.

Verby declined the request because ineffective counsel could not form the basis for a new trial. Cavanaugh challenged the ruling, although the Idaho Court of Appeals affirmed Verby’s determination.

The appeals court held that even if the recalcitrant witnesses testified, the testimony is unlikely to overcome the strengths of the state’s case, which included Cavanaugh’s initial admissions that he was driving and the fact that witnesses only saw Cavanaugh immediately after the crash.

But prior to the higher court’s ruling, Cavanaugh augmented his motion for a new trial. The addendum focus on Cavanaugh’s contention that those who tried to save Jones’ life inadvertently brought about her demise.

Cavanaugh maintains witnesses who rushed to her aid at the scene moved her body after she was struck, which exacerbated her injuries. Cavanaugh also faults Jones for not walking against the flow of traffic and claims doctors at Kootenai Medical Center did not properly diagnose her internal injuries.

A status hearing on Cavanaugh’s motion for a new trial is set for May 18.

Cavanaugh is imprisoned at the Idaho Correctional Center in Kuna, according to the Idaho Department of Correction. He is eligible for parole in 2013, IDOC’s Web site said.