PORT ANGELES — An attempted murder trial for a Port Angeles man accused of injecting a relative with a lethal dose of insulin has been postponed until January.
Robbie Wayne Davis, 39, will go to trial Jan. 11 on three counts of attempted first-degree aggravated murder, three counts of first-degree assault-administers a destructive or noxious substance and two counts of felony harassment-threats to kill.
Accusations
Davis is accused of trying to kill his late stepuncle, Richard Haynes, with insulin in December 2013, March 2014 and June 2014.
Haynes, a non-diabetic who had Down syndrome, died of complications of pneumonia last October. He was 57.
Davis was arrested last June 26. He is being held in the Clallam County jail on $50,000 bail.
In a Friday court hearing, Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg requested a lengthy continuance because of witness availability and turnover in his office.
“I hate to go that far out, but I think considering the number of witnesses — 25 at last count — and the number of experts in particular, [January] is probably the most realistic,” Troberg told Superior Court Judge Erik Rohrer.
‘More realistic’
Defense attorney John Hayden warned that there will be days in January when he has to leave court early.
“I don’t think that’s unreasonable,” Rohrer told Hayden.
“It’s not my first choice to set it out this far. It just seems like it’s probably realistic, to be honest.”
Troberg has announced he will retire in September.
Chief Criminal Deputy Michele Devlin will take over the case. She has a murder trial this fall, Troberg said.
Rohrer scheduled a pretrial status conference for July 17.
Several delays
Davis’ scheduled trial has been delayed several times because of DNA and handwriting tests at a State Patrol crime lab.
An Olympic Medical Center nurse found Haynes with dangerously low blood sugar after being visited by Davis in the hospital June 15, 2014.
Charges were added in April that Davis attempted to kill Haynes with insulin in December 2013 and March 2014.
The harassment charges were based on letters that Davis allegedly wrote in the county jail that threatened a deputy prosecuting attorney and a caseworker.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
