Retrial set in meth case

SANDPOINT — Criminal proceedings are resuming against a Spirit Lake man accused of operating a methamphetamine lab out of a recreational vehicle in the Vay area.

James Leland Sawley is accused of trafficking meth via manufacture or attempted manufacture. A senior district judge declared a mistrial in Sawley’s case last month after ruling that jurors were hopelessly deadlocked after a day of deliberation.

Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank immediately re-filed the charge, clearing the way for Sawley’s retrial in 1st District Court. Sawley’s five-day jury trial is planned for August.

Sawley, 46, remains held at the Bonner County Jail with his bail set at $300,000.

Sawley masterminded the clandestine meth lab discovered in October 2008 in the 700 block of Edgemere Cutoff Road, according to court documents. Sawley was not present when the RV was raided, although the vehicle was registered to him and his fingerprint was found on the lab’s “mother jar,” which was used to collect the chemical fruit of the manufacturing process, the prosecution alleges.

However, the defense has pointed out that none of the finished product was ever recovered and has emphasized that the RV and adjacent buildings on the property were used by other family members and periodically ransacked by yet more people.

Judge James R. Michaud declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a  unanimous verdict, abruptly ending a four-day trial.

Sawley, district court records show, was convicted in 2000 of manufacturing meth in Bonner County. He is also awaiting trial in Kootenai County for felony drug possession.