Woman pleads not guilty to perjury charge

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County woman accused of perjuring herself in a felony assault case pleaded not guilty last Monday.

Megan Marie Albertson’s plea clears the way for a two-day jury trial in 1st District Court in May. She is free on $500 bail while the case is pending.

Albertson was charged with the felony after testifying at Brandon Scott Cramer’s preliminary hearing in magistrate court last November. She and two other people — who are also charged with perjury — testified to Cramer’s alleged whereabouts at the time two people were threatened with a pistol near Oldtown on Oct. 17, 2017.

The alibi testimony caused a Judge Justin Julian to rule there was insufficient evidence to sustain aggravated assault charges against Cramer, but suspected perjury was involved because of the disparate witness accounts.

The charges against Cramer were re-filed and perjury charges were filed against Cramer’s sister, WendyJo, in addition to Albertson and Steve Walkup. WendyJo Cramer and Walkup were ordered to stand trial after a 12-year-old witness testified that he saw Brandon Cramer at the scene of the confrontation, testimony which Julian found credible.

WendyJo Cramer, 23, and Walkup, 31, are scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 12. Albertson, 33, waived her right to a preliminary hearing and was bound over to stand trial.

Brandon Cramer disappeared around the time the charges against him were reinstated, according to Priest River Police. He was arrested in Flathead County, Mont., last month and awaits another preliminary hearing.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.