PORT ANGELES — A motion hearing originally set Thursday for a Port Angeles woman charged with vehicular homicide and witness tampering has been rescheduled for Tuesday.
The hearing for Amber Steim of Port Angeles was moved after court Commissioner Brian Coughenour recused himself as the judge pro tem.
Coughenour, who was filling in as the sitting judge, did not state the reason he recused himself in court documents.
The hearing will instead be held Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Clallam County Superior Court.
Because of the large number of people who have been interested in the case, the hearing could be heard in Courtroom I, which holds up to 80 people.
Steim, 24, has pleaded not guilty to both vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol and witness tampering.
The charges were filed in connection with a March 6 crash on state Highway 112 between Joyce and Port Angeles that killed Ellen J. DeBondt, 44, a nurse with Olympic Medical Center’s home health agency.
Steim is free on $100,000 bond.
She is accused of being drunk when the pickup truck she was driving crossed the centerline and struck DeBondt’s pickup head-on.
Steim had minor injuries and was treated at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles.
Steim’s passenger, Nicole Boucher, also had minor injuries and was driven from the scene by a friend or family member.
If Steim is convicted of the vehicular homicide charge, she faces a sentence of between 31 and 41 months in prison and a $50,000 fine.
The crime of vehicular homicide carries a sentence of up to life in prison, but because Steim has a low-offender score, the sentence limit is 41 months, said Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg.
The witness-tampering charge — she is accused of contacting Boucher to fabricate an excuse involving alcohol — carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
During the hearing, Steim’s attorney Ralph Anderson, is expected to present several motions.
Change of venue
Anderson said he intends to file a change of venue request Tuesday because of the attention the case has received locally.
He said he will also ask that a separate trial be held for the witness-tampering charge from the vehicular homicide charge.
“When you listen to the CD, it does not sound like witness tampering, but that is another issue altogether,” he said.
“I’m asking that they sever the charges so that the cases can be heard separately.”
Anderson said he also will ask to have an expert witness look at Steim’s vehicle to make sure there was nothing wrong with it.
Troberg said he won’t file any motions at the Tuesday hearing.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
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