The five-day trial for a Port Townsend man accused of killing a Sequim man in May near Sequim’s Safeway fuel station has been continued into late January.
The trial for Aaron C. Fisher, 37, who faces a second-degree murder charge, was set to begin on Dec. 15 after it was reset following a change in legal representation for Fisher. However, Fisher’s new attorney Lane Wolfley said during a status hearing on Dec. 5 that it was appropriate with the recent changes to request a continuance. Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Michele Devlin and Judge Brent Basden offered no objection.
The trial now tentatively starts on Monday, Jan. 26.
A review hearing was set by Basden for 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9 along with a compliance date for the trial witness list and other necessary documents.
“(The date is) reasonable,” Basden said. “This is a complicated case… and gives us a little bit of time to make sure the investigation is complete.”
Fisher is accused of causing the death of Richard G. Madeo, 70, after allegedly punching him in the face on May 6, and knocking him unconscious in the driveway near the fuel station. Madeo died two days later at Harborview Medical Center, according to law enforcement and court documents.
Fisher was originally charged with second-degree assault, and released from jail on May 9 as the investigation into Madeo’s death was completed, Devlin previously said. He was arrested in SeaTac on July 23, and charged with second-degree murder on Aug. 1.
Fisher pleaded not guilty, and faces up to life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine. His bail was set to $150,000.
On Nov. 21, Basden asked Wolfley if the Dec. 15 trial date was a realistic start date. Wolfley said while he was new to the case, he approaches things more optimistically than he should and that he’d know just prior to the Dec. 5 hearing if a short continuance was needed.
Wolfley said then that he’d need a new investigator for the defense.
He was appointed to represent Fisher for the second-degree murder charge after Fisher’s original lawyer Alex Stalker cited in October that the Clallam County Public Defender’s Office had a conflict with a person related to another criminal case where Fisher allegedly communicated with a minor for immoral purposes.
Wolfley also now represents Fisher in that case where he was charged in September with one count each of possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first and second degree.
Originally, attorney William Payne was appointed to represent Fisher, but he too cited a conflict due to representing another complicated case.
The second case will trail the second-degree murder charge, so no trial date has been set.
Fisher pleaded not guilty on Oct. 24 to the two charges.
A no contact order was set by Judge Elizabeth Stanley between Fisher and the girl, and for him not to go within 1,000 feet of her for five years.
