Man gets 14 years for home invasion

Simon Roi “Smoke” Brown was sentenced Tuesday to 14 years in prison for a home-invasion crime in which his accomplice was shot to death.

The 31-year-old defendant could get 15 to 18 more years if a jury convicts him of first-degree assault with a firearm in a trial scheduled Dec. 5.

The jury that convicted Brown in August of first-degree burglary and being a felon in possession of a firearm was unable to reach a decision on the first-degree assault count that will be presented to a new jury in December. Brown’s first jury acquitted him of two counts of attempted first-degree robbery in the July 18, 2004, armed invasion of the home Harold W. Young and Monica A. Morgado shared in the 4100 block of North Monroe Street.

Testimony in Brown’s first trial indicated he and Steven R. Campbell both had pistols when they forced their way into the home and demanded money. Young said Campbell shot himself accidentally when they struggled, and Brown fled.

Assistant Public Defender Jeff Leslie failed Tuesday to persuade Superior Court Judge Harold Clarke III that Brown should be punished only for the gun he carried, not for Campbell’s gun as well. State law holds criminals responsible for the actions of their accomplices.

Each “enhancement” for use of a firearm added five years to Brown’s four-year sentence for burglary and the separate crime of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Idaho man listed in critical condition

An Idaho man remained hospitalized Tuesday from injuries sustained in a crash on U.S. Highway 2 north of Spokane.

Charles A. Castro, 24, was listed in critical condition Tuesday night at Deaconess Medical Center.

Castro, of Sandpoint, was a passenger in a pickup that crashed Monday evening into a power pole near Day-Mt. Spokane Road.

The driver, Newport, Wash., resident Caleb E. Loutzenhiser, 23, fled the scene, the Washington State Patrol reported.

Another passenger, Newport resident Nicole A. Truitt, 18, also fled, but was later contacted by troopers, said WSP Trooper Mark Baker. She told police that Castro had caused the crash by grabbing the steering wheel, Baker said.

Troopers are investigating whether Castro should face a charge of reckless endangerment.

Loutzenhiser could face a charge of hit and run, Baker said.

Terror trial attorney to discuss Patriot Act

David Nevin, the Boise attorney who defended a University of Idaho student accused of aiding terrorists, will speak Oct. 19 in Spokane.

Nevin is scheduled to talk about the Patriot Act, a federal law that greatly expanded law enforcement powers after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

His talk, sponsored by the Spokane chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, will be titled, “The Rule of Law in a Time of Terror.”

The free event is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Moot Court Room, Gonzaga University School of Law, 721 N. Cincinnati.

Nevin defended Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a Saudi graduate student who was arrested in 2003. The case was one of the first courtroom tests of the law that President Bush is now seeking to extend.

Al-Hussayen spent 511 days in jail before being acquitted in 2004 by a U.S. District Court jury. He was deported for violating terms of his education visa.

Porch supplicant faces trespass count

A Post Falls man held a 31-year-old woman at gunpoint and placed her under citizen’s arrest Monday evening.

Jennifer Michelle King, also of Post Falls, was booked into jail on a misdemeanor charge of trespassing.

According to a Kootenai County Sheriff’s report, William R. Ranney was in bed when his dogs began barking and a security alarm sounded. Ranney told a sheriff’s deputy that he went outside to investigate and, because of problems with thefts in the area, brought along his shotgun.

Ranney said he drove around the area and, finding nothing, returned home. As he approached his house about 9:30 p.m., Ranney said, he saw a woman running from his house. He said he told her to stop and held her at gunpoint while his wife called 911.

King told a sheriff’s deputy she was out walking and had gone on Ranney’s porch to pray, according to sheriff’s reports.