Knapp watched crash scene from afar
SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint woman accused of leaving the scene of a deadly traffic accident spent the night alone near the scene within view of her abandoned pickup and a fallen motorcyclist, according to Idaho State Police.
The revelation was made Monday, the opening day of Brianna Lucille Knapp’s trial in 1st District Court. She is being prosecuted at the felony level for failing to remain at the scene of the Highway 200 crash that claimed the life of an off-duty Spokane Police officer.
The nighttime crash happened in a construction zone west of Clark Fork in July 2012. Idaho State Police said Kurt Henson was riding westbound when he crashed his Harley-Davidson after hitting an abrupt lane edge.
Knapp was also westbound and witnesses at the scene told state police that they saw her collide with the downed motorcycle and a fallen Henson.
However, Knapp is not charged with causing or contributing the death of Henson, a 47-year-old from Post Falls.
Henson died at the scene and his passenger, Kimberly Lenox, was injured but survived. She told jurors that Henson purposefully laid the bike on its side after its front tire hit the edge of the eastbound lane, which was lower than the elevation of the westbound lane.
Lenox slid off her seat and watched the Harley emit a shower of sparks as it skidded on its side down the highway. Then she heard a vehicle approach.
“I saw the vehicle crash into the bike,” said Lenox.
Under cross examination by Bonner County Deputy Public Defender Dan Taylor, Lenox said neither she nor Henson were wearing helmets and admitted that they each had consumed about six beers earlier in the day.
Mary Stone told jurors she was also westbound and saw sparks in her rearview mirror, suspected there was a crash and doubled back to see if anybody needed help.
“I saw a truck run over a motorcycle and run over a body that was next to the motorcycle,” Stone testified.
Taylor objected to that statement and sought to have it stricken because it would confuse and inflame jurors, but Judge Barbara Buchanan overruled the objection.
Knapp, 27, initially told police the day after the crash that she thought she blew out a tire and was given a ride to Clark Fork, but subsequently revised her statement and said she sat at a picnic table near a barn.
“She stayed there the entire time,” said state police Det. Charles Greear, who retraced Knapp’s steps and found that both the immobilized pickup truck and the crash scene could be seen from the picnic table.
Knapp told police that she was unaware that she hit anything, but left the scene because she didn’t have a valid driver’s license or vehicle insurance.
“She had a legal obligation to remain at the scene,” Hanlon said during his opening remarks.
Knapp, who is free on her own recognizance while the case is pending, wept quietly and bounced her right leg on the ball of her foot as the state laid out its case.
Knapp’s co-counsel, Luke Hagelberg, said during his opening statement that his client intended to stop even though she was unaware there was an injury collision, but feared she would be arrested because she didn’t have a license or insurance.
“She was driving to the pharmacy to get medication for her children,” Hagelberg said.
The state rested its case on Monday and the defense is slated to start putting on its case today. It was not clear Monday if Knapp would take the stand in her own defense.