PORT ANGELES — Attorneys expect to determine at a status hearing in October if Ari Lee King, a Sequim man charged with the beating death of a 65-year-old Joyce woman last September, will have his day in court Nov. 16.
King, 42, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Diane Cunningham.
Defense attorney Loren Oakley requested a two- to three-week continuance of Friday’s status hearing.
Michele Devlin, Clallam County chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney, said she would agree to reset the hearing no later than Oct. 2.
“At that time, I need to know whether we are going [to trial] in November or not based upon the magnitude of this case, the amount of jurors we’re going to have to bring in and the amount of witnesses we have to bring in,” Devlin said.
Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly reset the status hearing for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 2.
The State Patrol has nearly finished its analysis of DNA found on key evidence, Devlin told Melly.
Oakley told Melly that his own experts were doing evaluations on evidence.
Clallam County sheriff’s detectives allege that King bludgeoned Cunningham to death with a carjack at her Joyce-area residence last Sept. 28.
King was arrested in Malheur County, Ore., last Nov. 13.
He is being held in the Clallam County jail on $1 million bail.
Previous trial dates of Jan. 5, May 4 and July 13 were scratched because of delays with DNA testing at a State Patrol crime laboratory.
