PORT TOWNSEND — Assault victim Linda LeBrane is sitting on a Canyon County, Idaho courtroom witness stand today for what she hopes will be the last time.
LeBrane, a Port Townsend resident, has sat at the same witness stand 11 times before, describing the brutal June 15, 2000 attack after which she was left for dead in a beet field by three men and a woman.
Sarah Kathleen Pearce of Caldwell, Idaho will be sentenced today for the attack along a remote part of Interstate 84 near Sand Hollow, Idaho.
Before Pearce, three men were convicted for the crime and sentenced while LeBrane’s testimony was still fresh in the ears of the judge and jury.
“Being a victim witness is a shattering experience, but it’s the only way criminals get convicted,” LeBrane, 53, rationalized before embarking to Idaho on Thursday.
Pearce, 21, was found guilty last July of aiding and abetting attempted first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
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The rest of the story appears in the Friday/Saturday Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County edition.
