PORT ANGELES — A trial date for a former Clallam Bay Corrections Center inmate who allegedly bludgeoned an officer with a metal stool in 2016 was struck because of a pending competency evaluation.
Abdinjib A. Ibraham, who is charged with second-degree attempted murder for the 2016 beating of Officer Terry Breedlove, will not go to trial as scheduled Sept. 24, Clallam County Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly ruled Friday.
The one-week trial will be reset after a state psychiatrist determines whether Ibraham has the capacity to understand the charge against him and the ability to assist in his own defense.
“We’ll reset down the pike once we get an evaluation in,” Melly said.
Ibraham, 30, is accused of repeatedly striking Breedlove in the head with a stool he had ripped from his cell until Breedlove was unconscious in a pool of blood.
The lawman has since been diagnosed with concussive syndrome and a traumatic brain injury, Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ed Anderson said in the probable cause affidavit.
Melly scheduled another status conference for Sept. 21 after defense attorney Harry Gasnick reported that he had made progress in his communications with Ibraham.
“For the first time, we’re actually accomplishing some interaction,” Gasnick told the court by video from the jail.
“It sounds like the gentleman may be willing to at least discuss some of the basics of his case with me.”
Ibraham is being housed at the Washington Corrections Center near Shelton for a prior conviction. He is transported to and from Clallam County for court hearings on his attempted murder case by state Department of Corrections officers.
Gasnick said he hoped to meet with Ibraham at the Shelton prison early this week, perhaps Tuesday.
“We’ll see if I’m able to have meaningful interaction with the gentleman, and that will determinate an awful lot,” Gasnick said.
During the hearing, a shackled Ibraham said he would be willing to plead guilty.
“I want to get a guilty plea so that I can end this,” he said.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brian Coughenour entered a not guilty plea on Ibraham’s behalf June 29, according to the minutes of the arraignment.
A competency evaluation was ordered Aug. 10.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
