PORT ANGELES — Michael J. Moyle was found guilty on all counts stemming from the ramming of his Mustang into another car last April.
A three-woman, nine-man jury deliberated for about an hour in Clallam County Superior Court before reaching a verdict Thursday afternoon in the trial that began Monday.
Moyle, 29, was found guilty of two counts of second-degree assault of a child, four counts of vehicular assault, second-degree assault and intentional infliction of bodily harm, second-degree assault and hit-and-run.
Sentencing, which will include two enhancements, is scheduled Feb. 23.
Moyle’s bail is set at $500,000.
During closing arguments Thursday, Moyle’s attorney said he was not fully in control of his actions when he rammed another car on Laurel Street and sent it into a telephone pole.
Loren Oakley of Clallam Public Defender, said his client was suffering from acute stress disorder from a recent assault and should be found not guilty on all charges.
On April 10, three days before the collision that injured two adults and two children, a man had attempted to stab Moyle while he sat in his car, according to testimony from two psychologists who interviewed him.
Moyle, 29, gave chase, but that man was driven away by someone else.
The psychologists, one of whom diagnosed Moyle with the disorder, said Moyle thought the driver of the Subaru Sedan he allegedly rammed was the driver in the getaway vehicle.
Moyle could not tell the difference because of the disorder brought on by the attack, Oakley said.
“He didn’t see Mr. [Stewart] Baker’s family,” Oakley said.
“He saw the other face.”
An assault
Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ann Lundwall said in her closing arguments that the case was about assault and not a disorder.
“This is a case about a man who got mad and acted like a jerk with his car,” she said.
Moyle had told police he was simply driving fast for fun and did not intend to hit the car.
He is charged with chasing the car carrying driver Stewart Baker; his mother, Tawny Baker; and his daughter, Lavender Baker, and her younger brother, Aaron Baker, ages 2 and 4, from the Albertsons store parking lot to Viewcrest Avenue, where the collision occurred.
Aaron was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle to be treated for a head injury while the other occupants were treated at Olympic Medical Center. All survived.
Victim testimony
Stewart Baker, who said he had never seen Moyle before, testified Tuesday that Moyle had pulled up next to him in the parking lot at 114 E. Lauridsen Blvd. looking “extremely pissed off” with his eyes “bulging out of his head.”
“It was like he had seen his worst enemy,” he said.
According to psychologist Jolene Simpson, who testified Thursday, Moyle told her:
“I looked over. I noticed that face.
“I freaked out.”
“I don’t remember that at all,” Simpson also said Moyle told her, referring to the alleged vehicle chase.
“It was like I was watching someone else.”
When Simpson asked him why he hit the car, she said Moyle responded:
“I just did. I thought it was the car the face was in.”
Moyle also told her he “freaked out” when he realized there were children in the car.
He allegedly left the scene in a truck driven by his friend, Timothy P. Smith.
Smith is charged with second-degree rendering criminal assistance and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
His trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 21.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
