Plea deal reached in manslaughter case

SANDPOINT — District Judge Steve Verby agreed on Monday to adhere to a plea agreement that resolves an alcohol-related vehicular manslaughter charge against a Clark Fork man.

Zachary Bradshaw Palmer entered an Alford plea to the felony charge as part of the agreement, which calls for a suspended prison sentence of three to seven years with retained jurisdiction.

When a judge retains jurisdiction, a defendant is eligible for release onto probation after serving six months at the North Idaho Correctional Institute in Cottonwood.

The agreement includes five years of probation, the installation of an alcohol-detecting ignition interlock device on his vehicle and an 18-month suspension of his driving privileges.

Restitution in the case is pending.

“I feel this is an appropriate way to resolve this very tragic case,” Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Roger Hanlon said during Monday’s plea hearing.

Palmer, 21, was charged after losing control of the Chevrolet Corvette he was driving and rolling the sports car on River Road south of Clark Fork. The Oct. 8, 2008, crash killed passenger Tyler James Pesce, 18, of Hope.

State Police measured Palmer’s blood-alcohol level at 0.13. No alcohol was detected in Pesce’s bloodstream.

Pesce’s father and stepmother testified in support of the plea agreement, but Teresa Pesce expressed dismay at an insensitive remark Palmer allegedly made about her stepson’s death. Both parents told Verby they were advised by a number of people that Palmer had recently stated, “it was Tyler’s time to go.”

Teresa Pesce said she hopes that Palmer will learn to take greater responsibility for his conduct in life.

“It’s very important that he not find his way around things anymore,” she said.

Pesce’s father, Jim, said his son’s death has been devastating and does not want to see another family suffer the way his has. However, Jim Pesce added that he has forgiven Palmer and does not believe a lengthy prison sentence is justified.

“I can’t see any reason to destroy two lives,” he said.

Family friends took the stand to vouch for Palmer’s character and told the court he was still grieving from witnessing the heart-related death of his father when the deadly crash happened. They also testified to Palmer’s contrition afterward.

“He’s been very remorseful for this terrible accident,” said Colleen Seward.

But Verby questioned how Palmer was taking responsibility given the Alford plea, under which a defendant admits no wrongdoing.

Palmer’s defense counsel, Sandpoint attorney Michael Waldrup, answered that his client is entering such a plea because he has no memory of the crash. Waldrup said Palmer was so despondent about the crash that a bailiff who administered periodic alcohol-monitoring tests suspected he might be suicidal.

“He’s going to struggle with this for the rest of his life,” said Waldrup, who emphasized Palmer has no prior criminal record.

Verby ultimately bound himself to the agreement, largely because it was supported by the parents of Tyler Pesce. Verby lamented the number of recent drunken-driving fatalities in the Panhandle.

“In northern Idaho we have what I would characterize as an epidemic of deaths,” he said. “This must stop.”

Palmer’s sentencing hearing is set for June 18.