Alleged sleep-driver trial date scheduled
COEUR d’ALENE — It’s been almost three years since a Coeur d’Alene woman allegedly caused two serious vehicle crashes on Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive that left multiple people injured.
On Nov. 8, Kara Powers is scheduled to face a jury of her peers, who will decide if she is guilty of three charges stemming from the incident.
Powers, who was 33 at the time of the crashes, pleaded not guilty last year in Kootenai County District Court to felony counts of theft, aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and leaving the scene of an accident. Two of three civil lawsuits filed in connection to the vehicle crashes are still active, awaiting the result of the criminal proceedings.
On Jan. 21, 2014, a vehicle driven by Patricia Desmet was struck by a Mercedes SUV allegedly driven by Powers. Powers’ vehicle was reportedly on the wrong side of the road.
A good Samaritan, Coeur d’Alene resident Sheri Bullock, pulled her vehicle over and left her three children inside as she went to check on the drivers involved in the crash. At that point Powers — who according to police reports was wearing a black bathrobe, sweatpants and slippers — allegedly walked to Bullock’s Volvo and got into it.
With Bullock’s three children inside the Volvo, Powers reportedly attempted to drive away. In a previous article on the incident, Bullock told The Press her middle son kicked open the back door and left the Volvo. Bullock said her 13-year-old son repeatedly hit Powers, making it possible for Bullock to pull her daughter from the vehicle.
Then, according to police investigators, Powers drove the Volvo at a high speed and eventually rear-ended a Dodge pickup on Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive near Potlatch Hill. Both vehicles rolled multiple times. William Akin, the driver of the pickup, was seriously injured.
Akin, as well as Desmet, filed separate civil lawsuits in Kootenai County District Court in the months following the incident. According to court records, both lawsuits seek monetary compensation from Powers for injuries, both physical and mental, sustained as a result of the collisions.
However, court records state access to evidence and testimony is limited due to the pending criminal charges. Both cases have been postponed as a result.
A third civil case, filed against Powers by her insurer, Farmers Insurance Company of Idaho, did move through district court in 2014. In a judgment issued Oct. 27, 2014, a Kootenai County District Court judge ruled in favor of Powers’ insurer, which argued it cannot be held liable for damages associated with the crashes since, according to court documents, Powers “did not have sufficient reason to believe she had permission to use (Bullock’s) vehicle” and “did not have a reasonable belief that she was entitled to use (Bullock’s) vehicle.”
Following the vehicle crashes, detectives allegedly discovered several pills on the floorboard of Powers’ vehicle and, according to a police report, also found prescription pill bottles “labeled for Kara Powers’ consumption.”
The report adds detectives met with Powers after she was transported to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where the woman told them she had suffered from several medical conditions requiring various prescription medication.
"With regards to what had happened that morning, Powers told me she vaguely recalls waking, going into the bathroom, dumping all her pills down the drain for unknown reasons, (and) does recall taking one of her pain pills before dumping the rest,” the detective’s report states.
When the detective asked Powers why she woke up early and decided to leave her home, the woman allegedly told him she wanted an attorney.
In an email to The Press, Powers’ attorney, Jim Siebe, wrote criminal prosecution of the case would “not only be unjust, but a waste of taxpayers’ money as well.” Siebe wrote that Powers was hospitalized in early 2014 for viral meningitis and was also in the process of making arrangements for spinal surgery, which left her sleep-deprived and in considerable pain.
“We believe that the driving was an unconscious act; an episode of sleep driving brought on by the combination factors described above or as the result of a lingering infection,” Siebe wrote.
A jury trial has been scheduled in Kootenai County District Court, with Judge Lansing Haynes.