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PASCO -- A longtime Tri-City lawyer who recently returned from a deployment in Afghanistan is now representing a Kennewick man charged with fatally shooting a Pasco man.
Kevin Holt was appointed Tuesday as co-counsel with Karla Kane in Ramon Garcia-Morales' murder case.
Garcia-Morales, 29, is charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in Franklin County Superior Court.
One of his defense attorneys, Carl Sonderman, previously withdrew from the case because of health issues and Kane asked Judge Vic VanderSchoor to appoint Holt.
Deputy prosecutor Brian Hultgrenn expressed concerns about adding Holt to the case after Holt recently filed an affidavit in another Franklin County murder case.
"We are a little concerned in this case because Mr. Holt is subject to recall," Hultgrenn said, noting that it could cause additional trial delays. "... The case has already been pending for quite some time because of competency (concerns)."
Holt, an Army reservist who was deployed oversees last fall, had been co-counsel on Vicente Ruiz's case, but was replaced in June when his deployment was extended.
When a trial continuance was requested last month because of schedule conflicts with one of Ruiz's attorney, Judge Cameron Mitchell considered putting Holt back on the case.
Holt, however, filed an declaration with the court saying he wouldn't be available for the then-scheduled Nov. 3 trial. Ruiz is charged with five counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
Holt said he returned to Washington in September but still was serving active duty while stationed at Fort Lewis near Tacoma and he told the court in a written declaration that he would be there until Oct. 22.
He also noted that he remains subject to possible deployment.
Holt told VanderSchoor that his affidavit said he wouldn't be ready for the Nov. 3 trial, but he wasn't asked if he could be ready for trial in December or January.
"At this point in time, I'm here and I'm ready to go to work," Holt said.
Judge VanderSchoor accepted that answer and moved on, scheduling a Dec. 8 hearing to determine if Garcia-Morales is competent to stand.
The hearing had been set for Nov. 20, but was continued to give Holt time to prepare.
A state psychologist claims Ramon Garcia-Morales is pretending to be incompetent to avoid trial, but his attorneys requested a contested competency hearing.
Because of the time delay since Garcia-Morales was evaluated, Deputy Prosecutor Brian Hultgrenn said the state may want to have their expert complete a second evaluation of the defendant.
Garcia-Morales is accused of killing Alfredo Garcia at his Manzanita Lane home on Dec. 10, and seriously wounding his wife, Maria Ramirez de Garcia, 38.
His younger brother, Jose, faces the same charges.
The trial for Jose Garcia-Morales, 25, was canceled last month so he could undergo further mental testing at Eastern State Hospital.
* Paula Horton: 509-582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com
