Jury convicts driver of manslaughter

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County jury convicted a Rathdrum man Thursday of vehicular manslaughter in connection with a deadly rollover crash in Clagstone last summer.

A jury of five women and one man deliberated for nearly two hours before finding Dustin Willis Harrison guilty of the misdemeanor offense, magistrate court records show.

Idaho State Police said Harrison was westbound on U.S. Forest Service Road No. 2561A when he lost control of his Toyota 4-Runner on a right-hand curve on June 9, 2015. The sport utility vehicle struck a berm and overturned multiple times.

Neither Harrison nor his passenger, Damien C. Johnson, were wearing seat belts the time of the crash.

Johnson, a 23-year-old Coeur d'Alene resident, was thrown from the SUV and died of head trauma, according to court documents.

Harrison, 35, initially identified Johnson as the driver, telling state police he let Johnson drive as a gesture of good will after their friendship became strained, an ISP report said.

State police said blood evidence in the SUV clearly showed that Johnson was in the passenger seat when the crash occurred. Troopers confronted Harrison, who immediately recanted his earlier statement, the ISP report said. Harrison said he concocted the story because a group had gathered at the scene and one of them had become physically threatening.

Trooper Leslie Lehman said in her report that there was a group of eight to 10 people who appeared to “upset and even hostile.”

In his statement to police, Harrison said a front tire deflated as he approached a bend in the forest road.

“As I started into the corner (right hand), I felt the vehicle drop in the front driver's side, which slid the back end of the vehicle out. At that point, I held on and closed my eyes,” Harrison said in his written statement.

Harrison invoked his right to remain silent during his day-long trial. The defense called no witnesses or entered evidence into the record, court documents indicate.

The state called Lehman and Trooper Allen Ashby to testify.

Ashby told jurors that there were potholes or obstructions in the roadway and calculated the SUV's speed at between 25-32 mph. The rig's left front tire separated from the rim, although braking marks on the road were inconsistent with a blowout.

Harrison's defense counsel, Deputy Public Defender Susie Jensen, emphasized in her closing remarks that her client was traveling below the speed limit in a reasonable and prudent manner.

“The fact that an accident occurred doesn't mean somebody is criminally at fault,” Jensen said.

Jensen peppered her closing argument liberally with “criminal” and “criminally.” Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Roger Hanlon said he quit counting the number of time the terms were used at 17.

“Don't fall prey to inflammatory language,” Hanlon said. “All you have to find is that he violated a state statute and his behavior that day was negligent.”

The jury also convicted Harrison of driving without privileges.

Harrison is free on his own recognizance while awaiting sentencing. A hearing date was pending.