Manslaughter case heads to jury trial

SANDPOINT — A Washington state man is rejecting a plea offer to resolve a vehicular manslaughter case against him.

Christopher Dale Jewsbury is scheduled to be tried by a jury of six in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Jan. 8, 2015.

Jewsbury is charged with accidentally killing Pend Oreille County, Wash., resident Amy Lynn Brady in a collision on U.S. Highway 2 near Oldtown on March 14.

Idaho State Police said Jewsbury was driving westbound when he veered into the eastbound lane. His GMC Sierra pickup sideswiped an oncoming sport utility vehicle before crashing head-on into Brady’s Chrysler 300 sedan.

Brady, 39, was killed in the collision. Jewsbury, a 50-year-old Spokane resident, broke both legs and his ankle in the crash.

Jewsbury was in a wheelchair when he appeared during a pretrial hearing, although he was able to stand when a bailiff ordered courtroom occupants to rise for the incoming judge. Brady’s mother, Lesley Miller, was also present for the hearing.

Judge Debra Heise noted that there was no resolution in the case, meaning that Jewsbury declined Deputy Prosecutor Roger Hanlon’s offer to recommend a 360-day sentence with 180 days suspended in exchange for a plea of guilt.

Miller has been unrelenting in her opposition to Hanlon’s decision to prosecute at the misdemeanor level instead of the felony level. Jewsbury tested positive for cocaine and marijuana, according to state police reports in the case.

Jewsbury told state police he fell asleep behind the wheel.

Hanlon does not comment to the media, but has told Brady’s family in emails that the case is a “tragedy,” but there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that Jewsbury was impaired at the time of the collision.

Miller contends that the state has ample evidence to prosecute a felony.

Brady was a single mother with two children, one of whom is a minor and another who is a young adult. Brady served in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan prior to her death.

Miller relocated from Arizona to assume guardianship of her grandson and aid her granddaughter, who is starting her post-secondary education.

“Our family still has hope for justice for Amy. She is not a plea bargain. She is priceless in our hearts and souls. We miss her,” Miller said in a letter to the court.

Hanlon had a strong track record in prosecuting vehicular manslaughter cases from 2003 to 2010. Ten cases were prosecuted in that time frame, resulting in nine convictions and one acquittal.

The two cases preceding Jewsbury’s, however, did not end well.

A Louisiana man has still not been held to account for a motorcyclist’s death he allegedly caused on U.S. Highway 95 in 2011. The defendant in that case, Taj LeCompte, simply skipped out on the proceedings and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Hanlon ceased prosecution of a Texas man accused of causing a deadly pileup on U.S. 95 in January 2012. Hanlon moved to dismiss the case after a defense-commissioned crash reconstruction expert cast doubt on the thoroughness of the ISP investigation and the quality of winter highway maintenance, court records show.

Lawrence “Red” Barber, a 60-year-old from Twin Falls, was killed in the 2011 crash. James Mady, 49, of Creswell, Ore., was killed in the 2012 crash.