Trial begins for 2009 fatal involving young Dixon man

POLSON — The trial of a Clinton man facing felony vehicular homicide charges commenced in District Court Monday.

William Maus, the 25-year-old Defendant, was headed south on U.S. Highway 93 in February of 2009 when he rear-ended a red Ford Explorer that had slowed to make a left-hand turn.

The two vehicles were near the Ninepipes Lodge when Maus’ Honda Civic pushed the Explorer, driven by 18-year-old Joshua Stubbs of Dixon, into the opposite lane.

Stubbs’ vehicle was broadsided by a logging semi-truck headed north. He was pronounced dead from blunt force trauma at St. Luke’s Community Hospital in Ronan after doctors worked on him for five hours, to no avail.

Maus and Clint Shor, the driver of the semi, were also transported to St. Luke’s, but were released with only minor injuries.

According to court documents, a sample of Maus’ blood revealed elevated THC levels. Police concluded he may have been high on marijuana at the time of the accident.

Maus has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide while under the influence, a charge which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

In her opening statement, County Prosecutor Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson told the jury that Stubbs was on his way to Missoula to drop off a job application at Barnes and Noble.

She said that before Stubbs left for Missoula, his mother, secretary of the Dixon schools, told him to drive safely.

“He did,” Cole-Hodgkinson said, “the defendant did not.”

Mike Sherwood, attorney for the defense, said in his opening statement that his client has been guilt-ridden about the accident, and freely accepts a degree of blame.

But, according to Sherwood, the crime that Maus has been charged with involves a high degree of negligence, not applicable to his client’s mistake.

He suggested that his client used marijuana medicinally to ease the pain of an old ACL surgery, but that his client was not impaired at the time of the accident.

“Whatever role marijuana played, it was a long time before the accident,” Sherwood said.

The state’s star witness, Holli Smith, was the final witness called to testify before recess Monday evening. After being sworn in, Smith described what she saw on the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 6 as she headed south on Hwy 93. Smith was driving behind Stubbs and Maus and recalled, from the witness stand, that she saw much of what led to the accident.

She estimated that Maus had been tailgating Stubbs for over two miles prior to the crash. Smith also said that immediately before the accident Maus had his head down and was not looking at the road.

“He was definitely driving like there was nothing in front of him,” Smith said.

A few seconds before the crash, Smith’s husband, Louie Morigeau, who was sitting in the backseat of the van with the couple’s three children, anticipated the danger and told his wife to slow down. The van was struck during the accident, but the family sustained no injuries.

Smith, who became emotional at points throughout her testimony, said the issue is close to her heart: several years ago she lost her 6-year-old son in a car crash.

“If I could’ve come to court and had some sort of justice served, that would have been nice,” Smith said, looking at the Stubbs family seated in the front row.

The prosecution also called Stubbs’ mom, the state medical examiner, Morigeau and Shor as witnesses during Monday’s proceedings.

The jury trial is expected to last the rest of the week.