By Brian Gawley
Sequim Gazette

James McCauley was found not guilty of felony hit and run late Wednesday afternoon Feb. 10 following a three-day jury trial in Clallam County Superior Court.

A second charge of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon was dismissed by the deputy prosecutor and can’t be refiled.

“She didn’t have a case,” said Larry Freedman, McCauley’s defense attorney.

Freedman said the same thing regarding the prosecutor’s earlier decision to drop a charge of making false statements to a law enforcement officer against Jim’s wife, Pat McCauley.

“He said it was because they didn’t have the resources to take a gross misdemeanor to trial but they do that all the time. The prosecutor didn’t have a case there either,” he said.

James McCauley, 60, and his wife, Pat, 56, both were charged in October after their car struck a pedestrian crossing a Port Angeles street on Oct. 18, 2009.

Clallam County Deputy prosecutor Erika Soublet alleged Mr. McCauley intentionally struck Sierra Swarm then drove away.

Freedman argued that Swarm crossed against the red light, walked in front of McCauley’s car, then jumped onto the car’s hood and pounded on the windshield when McCauley stopped his car to avoid a collision.