PORT ANGELES — The attorney for a man accused of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in December 2004 said Friday that he is ready to proceed with the trial as scheduled.
Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Kelly said it appeared that the trial will proceed as scheduled, but wouldn’t rule out another continuance.
Robert Gene Covarrubias, 25, is scheduled to go on trial March 27 for the slayingof Melissa Leigh Carter, who left a party at the Chinook Motel on East First Street on Dec. 23, 2004, and was not seen alive again.
Her body was discovered in a hollow off the Waterfront Trail in Port Angeles three days later.
An autopsy revealed that Carter had been raped and strangled.
Covarrubias, a newcomer to a loose-knit social circle of homeless youth Carter knew as friends, was charged on Feb. 16, 2005, with first-degree murder in Carter’s death.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors say they are not seeking the death penalty because premeditation likely could not be proven.
Covarrubias has maintained his innocence and has pleaded not guilty. He has been housed in the Clallam County jail in a single cell for his own protection.
