Defense tab in brown case tops $77,000

SANDPOINT — More than $77,000 in public funds were expended to safeguard Keith Allen Brown’s constitutional right to counsel and a defense in his case.

That sum does not include the hours of work put in by three public defenders who handled the case prior to the appointment of a private sector attorney to defend Brown against charges of first-degree murder and grand theft.

Brown, 50, was sentenced last week to 15 years in prison after entering pleas to voluntary manslaughter and accessory to grand theft. The first 10 years of the term are fixed.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall said he was pleased with the outcome of the case and that Brown received the maximum sentence allowed in the matter.

The state originally suspected that Brown and his former wife, Tyrah Harding, conspired to kill Leslie Carlton Breaw for financial gain, but extensive investigation in the case revealed that it was probably not the case, said Marshall.

Breaw, a 47-year-old Priest Lake resident, was shot to death on Jan. 23, 2007. An escrow check in Breaw’s name was deposited in the former couple’s joint banking account, although Brown has said he was owed the money for paralegal work he did for Breaw.

“It appears the killing was not premeditated act, but rather the result of a fight or quarrel between the victim and Mr. Brown. It is highly unlikely Ms. Harding was involved in any way prior to the shooting and was not present when it occurred,” Marshall said.

Harding, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and grand theft by possession and ended up serving more than three years in jail.

Chief public defenders and a deputy public defender represented Brown in the early stages of the case, but they were granted leave from the case because of a breakdown in communication.

Sandpoint attorney Dan Sheckler was appointed to represent Brown last year. Sheckler’s attorney fees topped at least $42,000, according to payment orders signed by 1st District Judge Fred Gibler.

The court also approved at least $32,000 in defense investigation funds, more than half of which were approved prior to Sheckler’s appointment. Another $2,500 was spent mediating a resolution to the case.

The amount of money spent by the state to prosecute Brown was not immediately available.