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Driver faces involuntary manslaughter charge

by David Cole
| November 20, 2010 8:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - A grand jury has indicted a Desmet woman on charges of involuntary manslaughter for a driving incident that killed a pedestrian on the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's Reservation in April.

Andrea M. George, who was 18 at the time of the incident, was driving a 2002 Honda Civic on Desmet Road when she struck Patrick A. Gourneau, 22, of Tensed, according to the indictment.

George operated the car "unlawfully and with gross negligence, that is, with wanton and reckless disregard for human life," the document says.

The indictment, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Coeur d'Alene by assistant U.S. attorney Michael W. Mitchell, says George was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana at the time of the accident, and that she was speeding.

The Press reported at the time that George was injured in the accident and was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane in serious condition. A passenger of George's wasn't injured.

The felony charge carries a penalty of up to eight years in prison and fine of $250,000.

An initial appearance in federal court is scheduled for Monday morning in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale.