Suspect seeking possible witness

by Keith KINNAIRD<br
| May 18, 2009 9:00 PM

SANDPOINT — A district judge approved the outlay of “limited” public funds Monday to substantiate claims from a man convicted of vehicular manslaughter that there is a witness who can exonerate him.

A Bonner County jury convicted Paul James Cavanaugh of the charge four years ago, but he continues to maintain he was a passenger in the pickup truck which struck Sarah Marie Jones, a pedestrian who walking to meet her boyfriend on Blanchard Cutoff Road.

Jones, 18, was fatally injured when she was hit on March 10, 2005.

Cavanaugh, 49, testified at trial he was not driving, but could not remember who was behind the wheel because was heavily intoxicated and experiencing periodic blackouts. Jurors, however, were not convinced by the testimony.

Cavanaugh was sentenced to serve eight to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and is seeking a new trial in 1st District Court.

Cavanaugh alleges Charlene Renee Coleman saw another woman, Lisha Kim Hegel, driving his truck on the night in question. Hegel, 49, was never charged in connection with the case and Coleman, 32, declined to testify on Cavanaugh’s behalf, according to court documents.

Michael Waldrup, Cavanaugh’s defense counsel, said he’s contacted two other witnesses, neither of whom were able to corroborate his client’s claims that he wasn’t driving.

“I’m kind of at the end of what I can do by myself,” Waldrup said during a Monday hearing which addressed the defense’s request for additional investigative funds.

Deputy Prosecutor Roger Hanlon told Judge Steve Verby that Coleman was contacted by a sheriff’s deputy during the run-up to Cavanaugh’s trial and she denied making the statements attributed to her.

Hanlon expressed doubt that additional investigation would reveal anything different. However, Hanlon did not object to the defense request for additional funds.

Verby approved the expenditure of investigative funds, but did not specify an amount. The outcome of the additional investigation is expected to be taken up at a June 15 hearing.