Perjury case survives bid to dismiss

SANDPOINT — A perjury case against a Bonner County woman is headed to trial after a defense motion to dismiss the matter was denied by a 1st District Court judge.

Brooke Heather Jensen is scheduled to stand trial in February 2020. She is free on a $5,000 bond while the case is pending.

Jensen, 33, is accused of lying under oath during a Child Protection Act shelter care hearing in March 2018. She allegedly testified falsely about whether or not she encouraged her daughter to leave a message on her biological father’s phone indicating that she was afraid of him and made false claims about the father sexually abusing the girl, according to court documents.

Jensen was ordered to stand trial on the felony offense following a preliminary hearing in July in which her 8-year-old daughter testified despite defense efforts to keep the testimony out of open court.

Judge Justin Julian found that the youngster accurately recalled the pertinent facts in the case.

Jensen would go on to plead not guilty to the felony offense in 1st District Court and her defense counsel, Craig Zanetti, would go on to file a motion to dismiss the case on grounds that the daughter’s competency to testify should have been determined before the court received the testimony. Zanetti further argued that the phone message was not a material element under the strictures of the perjury statute.

Judge Barbara Buchanan, however, disagreed.

Buchanan said in a written ruling that witness competency are a matter of discretion for trial court and there was no showing Julian abused his discretion in finding that the testimony was credible.

“To support a charge of perjury, it is sufficient that the defendant’s alleged false statement was material to the point of inquiry regarding the alleged sexual abuse of (the daughter) and it was calculated to bolster the defendant’s testimony about the alleged sexual abuse,” Buchanan said in the Nov. 1 ruling.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.