PORT ANGELES — A man accused of raping and strangling a 15-year-old Port Angeles girl in December 2004 will get to decide if he wants to keep his current attorneys.
Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Kelly asked Superior Court Judge George Wood on Thursday to disqualify Clallam Public Defenders from representing Robert Gene Covarrubias, 25, who is charged with first-degree murder.
Wood declined to remove Ralph Anderson and co-counsel Harry Gasnick from the case.
However, Wood appointed former Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney and now defense attorney Craig Ritchie to advise Covarrubias of the issue.
Covarrubias will make the decision whether to retain his lawyers on Tuesday.
If he decides to remain with Anderson, Covarrubias will have to sign a waiver.
If he decides to ask for a new attorney, it could possibly delay his trial by more than a year.
Covarrubias, who is being held in the Clallam County jail alone in a cell, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
March 27 trial slated
Covarrubias’ trial is scheduled to begin March 27, almost 15 months after the nude body of Melissa Leigh Carter was discovered in the brush off Waterfront Trail just east of downtown Port Angeles.
The teen was last scene at a party at the Chinook Motel on East First Street on Dec. 23, 2004. Her body was found three days later.
Kelly said she recently discovered that attorneys with Clallam Public Defenders — defense attorneys who represent poor people accused of crimes in the county — had previously represented at least 26 of the state’s witnesses, including Carter’s mother, father, two brothers and at least three men the defense has named as “potential suspects.”