Knapp trial set to start Monday

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint woman’s trial for allegedly leaving the scene of a highway crash that killed an off-duty law officer could start on Monday.

Brianna Lucille Knapp’s case is among four cases set to be tried in 1st District Court, according to court documents. Her jury trial is scheduled to last three days.

The felony charge against Knapp arose from a crash on Highway 200 in July 2012. Idaho State Police said Kurt P. Henson was riding westbound when he struck an abrupt lane edge in a construction zone and crashed his Harley-Davidson.

Knapp, state police said, was also westbound and drove through the crash scene, which damaged the pickup truck she was driving. The truck was found abandoned and Knapp reportedly hitchhiked to her former home in Clark Fork, according to court documents.

Henson, a 47-year-old Spokane Police officer from Post Falls, was fatally injured.

A passenger on the Harley, 43-year-old Kimberly Lennox, also of Post Falls, survived the crash after being pulled from the highway.

Although a witness told investigators he saw Knapp’s vehicle hit the motorcycle and the fallen Henson, Knapp is not charged with causing or contributing to the man’s death. She is charged with leaving the scene of a deadly crash, a felony.

Knapp, 27, denies the charge and supporters say the woman was unaware she hit anything on the highway that night.

The case has encountered various delays and pretrial motions as it wended its way toward trial, including ones to shift the venue out of Bonner County and limit the scope of testimony.