Port Townsend: Attorney for accused murderer still trying to get different judge for trial

PORT TOWNSEND — The attorney for accused murder Ryan Neil Sorensen says he’s still trying to get a new judge in his client’s trial even though judge Thomas J. Majhan twice refused to step aside.

Richard Davies, a Port Townsend-based public defender, is waiting for word on the status of the motion he filed in Division II of the state Court of Appeals last month.

Sorensen is charged in Jefferson County Superior Court with first-degree murder and two counts each of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault for the April 29 shooting death of 62-year-old towing yard operator Frank M. “Skip” Smith Jr. of Port Townsend.

Sorensen, 30, of Spanish Fork, Utah, is Smith’s former son-in-law.

The motion for discretionary review asks the appellate court to decide if Majhan should continue to preside over the trial.

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The rest of the story appears in the Wednesday Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County edition. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.

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