Thursday, November 4, 2004 Posted: 7:49 AM EST (1249 GMT)
SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- A former prosecutor was arrested for investigation of attempted murder after he shot and critically injured a lawyer he had been scheduled to face at a court hearing, police said.
Kevin Y. Jung suffered at least one gunshot wound after he pulled his Lexus sedan into the parking lot outside his quiet suburban office Wednesday morning, Bellevue police said. He was in critical condition early Thursday at Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue.
Witnesses reported the shooter's description and license plate number to officers, who tracked the plates through a rental agency to William R. Joice, a former Snohomish County deputy prosecutor. Joice was jailed Wednesday night for investigation of attempted murder.
It was not immediately known whether Joice was represented by a lawyer. A phone message left at his office was not returned.
Joice, a former fighter pilot with the Air Force, worked in the prosecutor's office from 1991-2000, said Mark Roe, the office's chief criminal deputy prosecutor. Since leaving the prosecutor's office, he has been in private practice in suburban Mill Creek, Roe said.
Joice had been scheduled to face Jung Wednesday morning at a contempt hearing in a civil case, the Herald of Everett reported.
Jung represented the plaintiffs and was asking Snohomish County Court Commissioner Lester Stewart to sanction the defense for failing to respond to requests for information in a lawsuit involving two couples, Stewart told the Herald.
When they didn't show up "I thought they'd resolved it," Stewart said, adding that he'd seen the two lawyers in court on the same case several months ago and there was no apparent animosity.
"Everybody here thinks of him as a gentleman and a nice guy." Roe said of Joice. "A lot of people who worked with (him), they're just speechless. When I told them what happened, they were certain I was telling a joke that wasn't very funny."
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.