PORT ANGELES — The second week of testimony in the first-degree murder trial of Robert Gene Covarrubias concluded Thursday with testimony from investigators and a forensic expert.
Before heading off for the weekend, jurors witnessed more than a dozen objections from both sides and one of Covarrubias’ public defenders sparred with Port Angeles Police’s supervising investigator and a DNA expert from Washington State Patrol.
At times, Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Kelly objected to the vigorous and occasionally mocking questions of one of Covarrubias’ attorneys, Clallam Public Defenders Director Harry Gasnick.
Covarrubias, 25, is accused of sexually assaulting and strangling Melissa Leigh Carter, 15, after she left a party at the Chinook Motel on East First Street.
Her body was found Dec. 26, 2004, in a brushy hollow just east of downtown Port Angeles.
Covarrubias has pleaded not guilty.
Gasnick questioned Detective Sgt. Eric Kovatch over summaries of interviews performed with Travis Criswell, 22, Carter’s former boyfriend.
