Courts roundup: Bank robbery goes to trial in September

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 29, 2026

A trial for a Jefferson County man facing charges related to a 2025 Sequim bank robbery will start in September.

Judge Brent Basden set an eight day trial for Dale Jaff, 59, of Port Hadlock on Friday to start at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, in Clallam County Superior Court. A status hearing is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18.

Jaff faces felony charges of robbery in the first degree, theft in the second degree, and assault in the second degree related to a robbery of Sequim’s Kitsap Bank on April 9, 2025.

He is accused of stealing about $4,000 in cash and spraying bear spray within the bank.

Previously, Jaff’s appointed defense attorney Alex Stalker sought an opinion on whether Jaff had/has diminished capacity for his defense.

Dr. Shamyka Sutton reported on Feb. 8 that Jaff had unspecified mood disorder with mild anxious distress, cannabis use disorder in early remission in a controlled environment, and opioid use disorder in sustained remission on maintenance therapy in controlled environment.

According to court documents, Basden wrote on July 15 that a jury will determine whether Jaff acted with intent, and that Sutton’s testimony is irrelevant.

He wrote that Sutton states that she “cannot say with a reasonable degree of clinical certainty that the symptoms of mental illness did in fact impair (his) capacity to form the requisite ‘intent of the alleged offenses, but it is conceivable, and consistent with current literature about behavior that is influenced by desperation and fear.’”

“Here, the court additionally finds the testimony inadmissible because (Jaff’s) expert does not say that his ability to act with intent to accomplish an act which constituted a crime was diminished,” Basden wrote.

“Rather, the expert testifies that it is possible that (Jaff’s) intentional acts were otherwise motivated.”

Parrish case on hold

Following her release from Western State Hospital in June, the defense for Ekaterina Parrish, 48, awaits a mental health referral before the case, where Parrish is accused of attempting to kill her children in 2022, can move forward.

She was released from Western State Hospital on June 22 and transferred to Clallam County jail after her competency was restored.

According to a May 21 Competency Evaluation Report from Dr. Patricia McCormick, Parrish has major depressive disorder but now has capacity to understand the nature of the legal proceedings, and capacity to assist in her own defense, according to court documents.

McCormick writes that “Parrish appears capable of independently meeting her basic needs for health and safety (and) she does not appear to present an imminent risk of harm to others.”

“However, she demonstrates an imminent risk to self (because she) indicated she would be more inclined to attempt suicide once discharged from (Western) and was no longer on constant suicide monitoring.”

Parrish appeared in Clallam County Superior Court on July 22 where her defense attorney Emily Gause asked to have an extension as she awaits a designated crisis responder referral for Parrish.

A status hearing was set for 9 a.m. Aug. 5 by Judge Simon Barnhart.

Parrish was arrested on Dec. 13, 2022 after she allegedly drove her children down an embankment on the 200 block of Hillside Drive in Sequim with the vehicle rolling over.

Her sons sustained minor injuries in the wreck, and one boy told a 911 dispatcher that his mother intentionally tried to kill them, court documents state.

This is now the third time her competency has been restored at Western State Hospital to assist in her own defense since being arrested.

Rape trial postponed to November

A trial date has been pushed back for a Sequim man accused of raping a Jefferson County woman and sharing explicit photos of her.

Defense attorney Karen Unger requested more time to prepare her defense for Christian J. Whitaker, 28, who previously pleaded not guilty to felony charges of rape in the second degree, voyeurism in the first degree, and the misdemeanor disclosing intimate images.

Barnhart agreed on July 10 to strike the trial set to begin on Sept. 14 and move the four day trial to begin on Nov. 2.

In March, Barnhart dismissed Unger’s motion to dismiss charges against Whitaker.

According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office’s probable cause statement, a woman reportedly in a relationship with Whitaker, then a Sequim police officer, told a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy on July 16, 2025 that on July 1, 2024 she was drugged and sexually assaulted in Whitaker’s residence in Sequim in unincorporated Clallam County.

Whitaker was booked and released on Sept. 5, 2025 from Clallam County jail with no bond set. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Whitaker worked for the Sequim Police Department from June 16, 2022-Aug. 27, 2025 when he resigned. He was put on administrative leave in July 2024 and his police power revoked. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation to avoid conflict of interest in Clallam County. Chris Ashcraft, special deputy prosecuting attorney from Jefferson County, has been assigned to prosecute the case.

According to court documents, the unidentified woman told a deputy she went to Whitaker’s house around 7:40 p.m. on July 1, 2024, drank two shots of vodka before blacking out, and awoke the next morning to signs of a possible sexual encounter.

The woman told law enforcement she went back home and was violently sick, saw flashing lights, and had muscle spasms and cramps, court documents state. She told a deputy she struggled to use her phone but eventually called a friend who convinced her to call 911 that afternoon and she was transported to the hospital, but told by staff they had limited ability to test for date rape drugs, according to court documents.

In his interview with a deputy, Whitaker said the woman drank three to four shots and they engaged in sexual activity, and he sent a video of her in a sexual act, and two photos of her unconscious to a friend.

Whitaker told a deputy he went into “caretaker mode” and had previous medical experience and knew he needed to be sure she did not aspirate.

Trial set for table theft case

A two-day trial was set for a theft case involving a costly table taken from a Sequim storefront window.

Kristin Estelle Harlan, 70, of Port Townsend pleaded not guilty to a single felony charge of theft in the second degree on July 22 in Clallam County Superior Court.

She was arrested on July 17 and released on July 20 after her first court appearance.

Harlan allegedly stole a 19th-century Oriental table valued at $2,000 on July 15 from the Sequim Habitat Boutique at 154 W. Washington St. She faces up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

According to Sequim Police Officer Abraham Blaylock, she was identified from surveillance video footage and by community members online after Habitat staff posted online.

The trial was set by Barnhart to begin on Monday, Oct. 5, with a status hearing at 9 a.m. Sept. 11.