Trial is reset in fatal crash case

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint woman’s trial for leaving the scene of a deadly crash on Highway 200 last year has been reset for July.

Brianna Lucille Knapp was to be tried in 1st District Court this month, although  Judge Barbara Buchanan granted a joint motion by the state and the defense to postpone the proceedings so additional crash reconstruction can be done, court records show.

Knapp’s three-day jury trial on the felony charge was reset for July 8.

Idaho State Police said Kurt P. Henson was riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle westbound when he struck an abrupt lane edge in a construction zone and crashed. Knapp, state police said, was also westbound and crashed into the downed motorcyclist.

Henson, a 47-year-old Post Falls resident and off-duty Spokane police officer, was killed at the scene. His passenger on the Harley, Kimberly Lenox, 43, also of Post Falls, survived the crash.

Although state police documents and witness statements allege that Knapp crashed her pickup into a fallen Henson, she is not accused of causing or contributing to his death.

Knapp, 28, is accused of leaving the scene of the crash, although she contends she was unaware that she was involved in an accident, according to court documents.

Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson appears to have successfully persuaded the court that portions of investigative reports indicating she struck Henson to be kept from jurors at trial because of prejudice and the potential for confusing jurors. Robertson also secured $7,000 in public funds to pay for a crash reconstruction investigation.

An earlier motion for the funds was denied because the state is not attempting to prove Knapp was at fault for the crash.

Knapp waived her right to a preliminary hearing earlier this year and was bound over to stand trial in district court, where she entered a plea of not guilty. She is free on her own recognizance while the case is pending.