Relief denied in Laclede stabbing

SANDPOINT — First District Judge Barbara Buchanan is denying a petition for post-conviction relief filed by a Washington state man who stabbed a professional acquaintance in Laclede in 2017.

Buchanan’s judgment simply states that Shawn Montgomery Harp’s petition for relief and its attendant affidavit are being dismissed, according to a Feb. 25 court filing.

Harp was charged with first-degree attempted murder after stabbing the man in the chest and back without provocation during an Easter gathering. The knife strikes narrowly missed the man’s heart and spine, which meant he came perilously close to being killed.

Harp contends he was in the throes of a methamphetamine-induced psychotic episode during the attack. Harp was a relative of an automotive business owner who was in the process of selling the company to the stabbing victim.

Harp pleaded guilty to an amended charge of aggravated battery and he was ordered to serve a seven- to 15-year prison term.

Harp subsequently filed a civil court relief petition which argued that the state overcharged him with attempted murder and he received ineffective assistance from counsel because his attorney did not utilize the meth psychosis defense. He further argued that he was not made aware the court was not bound by sentencing recommendations in the case.

During a hearing in January, Harp maintained that the state overcharged him to induce a plea to a lesser charge. Bonner County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank, meanwhile, pointed out that Harp was expressly advised twice during the proceedings that the court was not required to adopt the state or the defense’s sentencing recommendations in the case.

Harp is serving his sentence at the Eagle Pass Correctional Facility, a southwest Texas facility where Idaho inmates are being held due to prison overcrowding.

Harp, 36, becomes eligible for parole in 2024, according to the Idaho Department of Correction.

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