Man Gets Jail Time In Passenger’S Death

Tue., April 25, 2000

From Staff Reports

Convicted of misdemeanor manslaughter last month, Neil C. Sanderson will spend six months in the Bonner County Jail, 1st District Judge James Michaud ordered Monday.

Sanderson, 24, now of Middletown, Calif., was living near Priest Lake last April when he wrecked his pickup along U.S. Highway 57. His passenger, Howard Johnson Jr. of Priest River, died almost instantly.

Sanderson was pinned in the overturned pickup for nearly two days as the accident went undetected.

Originally charged with vehicular manslaughter, a felony, a Bonner County jury found Sanderson guilty of misdemeanor manslaughter.

The prosecution had a difficult time proving that Sanderson was drunk at the time of the accident. By the time he was discovered, the alcohol content of his blood had changed.

Michaud also ordered Sanderson to pay restitution to Johnson’s family to cover funeral costs. His driver’s license was not suspended.

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