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COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — An eastern Washington man has been found not guilty of three counts of involuntary manslaughter following a boating crash on Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho.
A Kootenai County jury on Friday acquitted Dennis Magner of Spokane following a two-week trial.
Magner was driving a boat in the dark on July 30, 2016, that crashed into a stopped boat and killed 34-year-old Justin Luhr, 21-year-old Justin Honken and 21-year-old Caitlin Breeze.
Prosecutors contended Magner was drunk and negligent in the crash.
But defense attorneys said he wasn't drunk and was operating the boat safely but didn't see the collision coming because the other boat's lights weren't on.
An expert testified that Magner may have suffered a traumatic brain injury in the collision, accounting for his memory loss about the event.
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