PORT ANGELES — An animal cruelty trial facing a Sequim man has been delayed pending the outcome of a competency evaluation.
The evaluation for John Dashti, 60, was ordered during a status hearing Friday.
He remained in the county jail Monday on a trespassing charge with a $500 bond.
“He was originally scheduled for [an] outpatient evaluation, but because he is in custody . . . he is now scheduled for an in custody evaluation,” Kristina Nelson-Gross, Clallam County civil deputy prosecuting attorney, said in an email.
Information about when the evaluation is scheduled was not available Monday.
Also during the hearing, “a request for reduced bail on the . . . trespass charge was denied,” Nelson-Gross said.
Animal cruelty
Dashti is charged with two counts of animal cruelty in the second degree, both misdemeanors.
In late June, law enforcement officials confiscated nearly all of Dashti’s livestock — two donkeys, two sheep, two pigs, a Bernese mountain dog, 12 rabbits, various chickens and about 50 quail.
The animals were seized because of parasitic load, malnourishment, lack of basic care and unsanitary conditions, Brian King, chief criminal deputy for the Sheriff’s Office, has said.
Dashti was charged July 31. He pleaded not guilty. He is represented by Charlie Commeree, a Clallam Public Defender attorney.
On Sept. 15, deputies visited Dashti where he was apparently squatting on a county roadway after being evicted from his home, and reportedly observed him trespassing on private property nearby.
Dashti was cited for criminal trespass in the second degree — a misdemeanor — and released.
Ordered off property
On Oct. 2, District Judge Rick Porter ordered Dashti to stay off the property he had allegedly trespassed on, which is owned by Bernard Flath.
Dashti pleaded not guilty to the trespassing charge and was released.
That night, deputies who returned to the county roadway said they observed Dashti once more on Flath’s land.
They arrested him on a second charge of trespass in the second degree and booked him into the jail.
He pleaded not guilty to the second trespassing charge Oct. 5.
Dashti is not currently scheduled for any future court dates, Nelson-Gross said, pending the outcome of the evaluation.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
