Stage set for Monday manslaughter trial

A Coeur d’Alene judge on Thursday dismissed a conspiracy charge against a Washington man accused in the deaths of three boaters two years ago on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

First District Judge Cynthia K.C. Meyer said the state’s evidence did not support the charge that Dennis Magner, who has pleaded not guilty to three counts of involuntary manslaughter, purposely tried to deceive authorities.

Magner, a former Spokane advertising executive and the driver of the boat that crashed into a possibly stationary watercraft, was charged with conspiracy after he and other survivors of the July 30, 2016, boat crash reportedly lied to deputies about who was operating Magner’s boat.

The crash, which happened at night, killed Caitlin Breeze, 21, of Spokane; Justin Luhr, 34, of Medical Lake; and Justin Honken, 31, of Post Falls.

The crash sent Magner’s boat airborne and ripped off the top of the victims’s boat, according to court documents.

Magner will be on trial for the three manslaughter counts beginning Monday in First District Court.

Meyer also ruled Magner’s previous DUI convictions will not be allowed in the trial because they are prejudicial.

Investigators said Magner was operating the boat carrying four passengers that crashed into a another vessel occupied by Breeze, Luhr and Honken.

According to sheriff’s office investigators, several people on Magner’s boat, including Magner, provided investigators with false information before they knew that three people had died in the crash.

One of those passengers, Jonathan C. Sweat, 40, of Spokane, is also charged with criminal conspiracy. Meyer ruled Thursday that Sweat’s criminal record could be revealed to jurors, despite arguments by defense attorneys that it could be prejudicial.

A jury trial is scheduled at 9 a.m. Monday in Coeur d’Alene.