Judge rejects request for new trial

SANDPOINT — A Spirit Lake man was unable to persuade a 1st District judge he should be tried anew for felony vehicular manslaughter.

Judge Steve Verby ruled that Paul James Cavanaugh has fallen short of his burden of showing that new evidence in his case would probably result in an acquittal.

A Bonner County jury convicted Cavanaugh of accidentally hitting Sarah Marie Jones with his pickup truck as she walked along Blanchard Cutoff Road on March 10, 2005. Jones, 18, was fatally injured in the collision.

Cavanaugh, 49, was sentenced to serve eight to 15 years in prison.

Cavanaugh maintains he was too drunk to drive and was a passenger in the truck when Jones was hit. Cavanaugh’s quest for a new trial centers around alleged witnesses who are willing to testify that they saw somebody else driving his pickup on the night in question.

Cavanaugh alleges Charlene Coleman would testify that she saw another woman, Lesha Hegel, driving his truck. But Coleman, 32, and Hegel, 49, have flatly refuted Cavanaugh’s assertions, a defense investigator testified during a hearing on Monday.

Investigator Keith Kensinger told Verby he also interviewed several other potential witnesses as well.

“Did any of those witnesses corroborate Mr. Cavanaugh’s statements?” asked Michael Waldrup, Cavanaugh’s defense counsel.

“No, they did not,” Kensinger answered.

Kensinger also testified that further investigation into Cavanaugh’s claims would be unjustified. Prosecutor Louis Marshall urged against additional investigation during the hearing.

“The family of the victim in this matter has waited a long time for final resolution,” said Marshall.

Verby ultimately concluded that even if he accepted all of Cavanaugh’s evidence as true, it would not be enough to surmount a requirement that the evidence would likely result in an acquittal.

“In this case, the court determines that there has been a failure of proof,” Verby ruled.