PORT ANGELES – In another dizzying reversal, Robert Gene Covarrubias said he wants to plead guilty to raping and murdering 15-year-old Melissa Leigh Carter in 2004.
“Can we proceed with sentencing?” Covarrubias said at a Clallam County Superior Court hearing in which his attorney withdrew from the case Wednesday.
“I’d like to plead guilty and get sentenced.”
In a span of two weeks, Covarrubias, 28, has said he was innocent, then confessed, voluntarily pleaded guilty to charges harsher than his original charge, said he wanted to withdraw his plea, then said that he committed the crime.
Before his latest request can be considered, Judge George L. Wood must appoint a new lawyer for him.
Ralph W. Anderson of Port Angeles withdrew as Covarrubias’ lawyer on ethical grounds that he said are confidential.
A hearing on the new appointment is at 9 a.m. today at the county courthouse.
Ethics
Anderson told Wood on Wednesday that Seattle University School of Law ethics expert John Strait said it was “absolutely mandatory” that he no longer represent Covarrubias.
As county Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly said she would not oppose Anderson’s request, Covarrubias interrupted her, telling Wood that he had changed his mind yet again.
Carla Carter, Melissa Carter’s mother, said in a later interview that upon hearing that, it was all she could do to stay calm.
“I take what he says with a grain of salt,” she said.
“I don’t get my hopes up anymore. It’s too much of a roller coaster ride. I can’t trust anything he says. He seems to be playing games. He’s a real piece of work is all I have to say.”
Anderson said in a later interview that it appeared that Covarrubias decided to change his plea on the spur of the moment.
“It was an emotional reaction to my withdrawal,” Anderson said. “We have never heard anything like that until I served him with notice.”
Wood will likely appoint lawyer Gary Sund of Sequim to consult with Covarrubias “about issues with his guilty plea,” the judge said.
“This entire case threw me a little off,” Wood said as he accepted Anderson’s withdrawal request.
“There is no question in my mind that you feel there are some ethical conflicts, and you feel there is a duty to withdraw.”
In a hearing Monday, four days after pleading guilty, Anderson said Covarrubias wanted to change his plea back to not guilty.
Covarrubias told Anderson he was in a “depressed” mental state and not taking his medication when he confessed to Port Angeles police July 15 that he raped and murdered Carter when he pleaded guilty in court July 23.
Charged with first-degree murder, he voluntarily pleaded guilty to murdering Carter “with sexual motivation,” admitting that he raped her, too, and guaranteeing a minimum sentence of 34 ½ years and a maximum of life in prison.
Anderson said after the hearing Wednesday that his withdrawal as Covarrubias’ lawyer was not related to the 83-page taped confession, at which Anderson was not present.
“This is more than a matter of principle,” he said. “To proceed in this case would require me to violate the rules of professional conduct.”
He said he would have made about $30,000 in fees had he tried the case.
“The bottom line is, this is not a financial question,” he said.
Before the hearing Wednesday, he sarcastically said, “I’ve always wanted to see the headline, ‘Lawyer fires client.'”
Covarrubias and Carter were at the same party at the now-closed Chinook Motel on Dec. 23, 2004.
Her nude body was found three days later in a brushy embankment next to the Port Angeles Waterfront trail and east of the Red Lion Hotel.
He was arrested for the murder in 2005, pleaded not guilty and insisted that he and Carter had consensual sex.
At Covarrubias’ trial, witness Jon Sonnabend said he saw Covarrubias and Carter together on the Waterfront Trail after the party, in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve day.
A jury found Covarrubias guilty of first-degree murder in April 2006.
He was sentenced to 34 ½ years, but on appeal, the state Court of Appeals ordered a new trial with the caveat that there remained enough evidence to convict him.
Before he confessed, Covarrubias’ new trial was scheduled to begin Sept. 21.
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Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
