PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Superior Court Judge George Wood will rule Monday whether Robert Gene Covarrubias’ new first-degree murder trial should be delayed past its July 6 start date so DNA testing can be conducted on evidence including fingernail clippings, underwear and blood.
Covarrubias, asking to address Wood during the pre-trial hearing on Thursday, said he wanted his trial to get under way.
“I have a constitutional right to a speedy trial,” Covarrubias, 28, said.
In his ruling at 9.m. Monday, Wood will respond to county Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly’s request that Covarrubias’ trial on a charge of murdering Melissa Leigh Carter, 15, should be delayed so 12 exhibits from Covarrubias’ April 2006 trial can be tested for DNA.
Those exhibits include Carter’s fingernail clippings, which contain material that might help identify her killer.
“We might be able to develop a profile of the individual Melissa Carter was clearly struggling with,” Kelly said.
Kelly made her request at the regular 9 a.m. Thursday pretrial hearing for Covarrubias at the Clallam County Courthouse, the basement of which contains the jail where Covarrubias, 28, is being held on $1 million bail.
He was found guilty of first-degree in Carter’s December 2004 death.
Carter was 15 when her body was found the day after Christmas 2004 on Olympic Discovery Trail.
The state Court of Appeals ordered a new trial on Jan. 6, citing errors that occurred in the first trial.
Ralph W. Anderson, the Port Angeles lawyer representing Covarrubias, argued against the continuance.
He said new testing would not reveal new evidence and argued jury selection should begin as scheduled on July 6.
Anderson also said in a later interview that he intends to ask for a change of venue at the next regularly scheduled pretrial hearing at 9 a.m. Thursday.
“I have a lot of confidence in Clallam County juries,” he said.
“I just think too many people have made up their minds.”
Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com
