Appeals court rules against Thurlow
SANDPOINT — The Idaho Court of Appeals is upholding a district court’s denial of post-conviction relief for a Sandpoint man serving a life sentence for murder.
A Bonner County jury convicted Kenneth Eugene Thurlow aiding and abetting in the killing of Christopher Elliott West, who was killed by a close-contact shotgun wound to the head while he worked on his vehicle at a Sandpoint junkyard in August 2005. Christopher Alen Lewers was also convicted of aiding and abetting in the slaying.
Thurlow filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging he received ineffective assistance from his defense counsel during the plea-negotiation stage of his prosecution. Thurlow argued his attorney assured him he would only be convicted of felony accessory after the fact if the case went to trial.
First District Judge Barbara Buchanan ruled following an evidentiary hearing that Thurlow had failed to meet his burden to prevail on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, which prompted Thurlow to appeal.
But the appeals court held that Thurlow did not present a viable claim of ineffective assistance or prejudice, according to an unpublished opinion released on Monday. Thurlow rooted his assertion in a handwritten note from his attorney which stated he faced only five years in prison if convicted of being an after-the-fact accessory. However, the appeals court noted that the prosecution’s offer had expired and likely wasn’t viable because it required Lewers to also accept the offer.
“There was no showing that the state’s plea offer would ultimately have been available to Thurlow even if he would have tried to accept it,” Chief Judge David W. Gratton said in the five-page ruling.
Thurlow, 58, is serving his fixed life term at the Idaho State Correctional Institution in Kuna, according to the Idaho Department of Correction’s website. Lewers, 35, is serving his life term at the Idaho State Correctional Center, which is also in Kuna. Lewers becomes eligible for parole in 2025, according to IDOC.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.