An Everett defense attorney believes there are people who might be able to help fill the gaps in the defense of man who is accused of running over and killing a skateboarder in August, but they are afraid to come forward.
That fear is unfounded, attorney Pete Mazzone said.
Mazzone said he received two telephone calls earlier this week, one from a woman who refused to identify herself.
She told him she has information that may help his client but is afraid for her safety after viewing a television report that was factually wrong, Mazzone said.
The second caller didn’t leave a name or phone number.
Mazzone is defending an Everett man accused of running over a 12-year-old skateboarder Aug. 21. The man was charged with leaving a fatal accident earlier this month. He pleaded not guilty Monday.
The woman who talked to Mazzone said she saw a televised news report indicating that the defendant believed he was in danger and had sought a court order to protect himself from friends or relatives of the victim, Justin Freeman.
No such order has been sought, and his client has no reason for fear, Mazzone said.
His client, Kasey Stewart Cline, 26, of Everett is scheduled for trial in May. Mazzone said it’s likely he will take the case to trial.
“I want to put it in a way people are not afraid to come forward because there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Mazzone said Thursday. “What we all are trying to do in this case – the prosecuting attorney, the police department as well – is try to do the right thing.”
The television news report said Cline was in jeopardy. Mazzone said that a protective order concerning evidence was mentioned in court, “but it has nothing to do with either the defendant or the victim or the victim’s friends and family.”
The report was bolstered by film of a friend of the victim shouting something at Cline when he left the courtroom.
“The guy was just venting” and calmed down almost immediately, Mazzone said.
Cline, who lives in the same Lowell neighborhood as Justin did, came forward the day after the boy’s death after he heard there was a fatal accident. He told detectives he thought “he may have hit something,” according to court documents.
Forensic scientists examined the Mazda pickup Cline had been driving before the criminal charge was filed.
Mazzone asked that anyone with information about the case telephone his office, 425-259-4989.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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