PORT ANGELES — The attorney who represented an 18-year-old Port Angeles man accused of being behind the wheel during a fatal hit and run was “shocked” when his client was charged with first-degree murder this week.
Former Clallam County Prosecutor Chris Shea had been asked to represent Shawn Louis Newman, 18, by Newman’s mother, Shea said Tuesday.
He anticipated addressing the conditions of release at Newman’s initial court appearance Monday, but said he was taken aback when Newman was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly hitting Steven Biss, 48, while exceeding speeds of 100 mph in his 1979 Ford Mustang and then attempting to hide from police early Sunday morning.
“I was pretty much stunned,” Shea said.
“I didn’t see that coming.”
Shea said that he couldn’t comment on whether the charge was appropriate.
“I just felt that first-degree murder was a stretch,” he said.
Newman is scheduled to be arraigned Friday.
The murder charge against the Port Angeles High School senior has two alternative charges which are variations of vehicular homicide.
In one he is accused of driving impaired and the other is that he operated the Mustang in a “reckless manner.”
Clallam County Deputy Prosecutor Lauren Erickson said Newman was allegedly driving at speeds of more than 100 mph, had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.
“And operating a 2,000-pound piece of machinery,” Erickson said.
Blood was drawn from Newman after the collision, but the results are not yet available.
Luella Rosa, 24, Biss’ daughter, suggested that Newman should be charged “with the highest charge he can get.”
Biss was a full-time Clallam paratransit driver for an organization that provides transportation services for the disabled.
He received a 2002 Driver of the Year Award from People First of Washington, a group of developmentally disabled residents who frequently use public transportation.
In addition to Biss’ family, his co-workers are coping with the loss.
“We’re having a hard time dealing with it,” said Paratransit General Manager David McCoy.
