Family calls for felony in fatal crash
SANDPOINT — The family of a Pend Oreille County woman who was killed in a head-on collision on U.S. Highway 2 is expressing outrage over plans to charge the other driver with a misdemeanor offense.
“It’s tragic. It’s just not right,” said Lesley Miller, the mother of Amy Brady.
Idaho State Police said Brady was driving eastbound near Albeni Falls when a westbound motorist crashed into her Chrysler 300 sedan after sideswiping another eastbound motorist with his GMC Sierra pickup truck on March 14.
Brady, a 39-year-old single mother of two and armed services veteran, died at the scene of the crash. The driver of the pickup, Christopher Dale Jewsbury, was airlifted from the scene, but survived the collision.
Miller said Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Roger Hanlon advised her in July he intended to charge Jewsbury with vehicular manslaughter at the misdemeanor level despite the presence of drugs in Jewsbury’s system.
Miller believes Jewsbury, a 50-year-old Spokane resident, should be prosecuted for a felony and other alleged offenses stemming from the crash. She said Hanlon agreed to revisit the evidence in the case, but Hanlon ultimately reaffirmed his decision not to seek a felony or additional charges in the case.
Hanlon does not comment to the media on cases he prosecutes. But Hanlon explained in email messages he exchanged with Idaho Mothers Against Drunk Driving that there is currently insufficient evidence to sustain a felony charge against Jewsbury, who claimed he simply fell asleep at the wheel.
No ethyl alcohol or marijuana was found in his system, although there was benzoylecgonine, the primary metabolite for cocaine which is no longer psychoactive. Benzoylecgonine is also an ingredient of a topical analgesic.
Hanlon said there is no evidence that Jewsbury was impaired or driving in a grossly negligent manner.
“(T)here was no evidence of excessive speed, passing with sight restrictions, or other intentionally reckless driving conduct,” Hanlon wrote in a Sept. 24 email to Miren Aburusa of Idaho MADD. “(M)y conclusion is that he was left of center due to negligence (inattention) that does not rise to the level of gross negligence as defined by law.”
But Idaho MADD’s program coordinator, Jeff Corbin, maintains that Jewsbury’s drowsiness amounted to gross negligence.
“The defendant irresponsibly chose to continue to operate the vehicle in (a) manner that became more and more unsafe as the drowsiness increased until he ultimately fell asleep and caused a fatal collision,” Corbin said in a Sept. 25 email to Hanlon.
Brady’s brother, James, is livid over the prospect of a misdemeanor charge and contends that the prosecution has done more to protect Jewsbury than look after the interests of Amy and her surviving family members.
“He took a life. He wrecked a family,” James Brady said of Jewsbury.
Lesley Miller said Hanlon told her that marijuana and a large sum of money were recovered at the scene of the crash. James Brady questions why Jewsbury is not be charged with drug possession and what Jewsbury was doing with pot if it didn’t turn up in his system.
However, Hanlon said in an email to Lesley Miller’s legal counsel in a wrongful death suit against Jewsbury that “there is no reported evidence that will support additional criminal charges.”
There was no record of Jewsbury being charged as of Tuesday, according to the Idaho Statewide Trial Court Record System. Hanlon said in an email the same day that he still intends to seek a misdemeanor charge but isn’t ruling out amending the offense.
“(I)f as the case develops, I come to the conclusion that my judgment is in error, I may amend,” Hanlon said in the email to attorney Craig Vernon.
Meanwhile, Amy Brady’s family has embarked on a campaign to bring pressure on the matter by contacting Idaho State Police, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, the Idaho State Bar, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and even the White House.
“We will find a way to do it. No matter how many doors we have to bang on,” Miller said.