Ruiz agrees to delay murder trial until November

Kristin M. Kraemer, Herald staff writer

PASCO -- Since he was booked into the Franklin County jail almost two years ago, Vicente Ruiz has been anxious to face jurors and deny any involvement in the killing of five men in a Pasco auto body shop.

Ruiz claims he wasn't there in 1987 -- suggesting it was his lookalike brother -- and has grown more enraged with each snag that has pushed back his trial date and forced him to spend more days behind bars.

Tuesday, Ruiz begrudgingly agreed to another delay that now has his trial scheduled to start Nov. 3 -- nearly 14 months after a mistrial was declared in his first attempt before a jury.

"Well, they told me (the trial would be) in September. Now it's going to be in November?" Ruiz told the court through a Spanish-speaking interpreter. "Well, if there's no other option then we'll wait. ... OK, well then, we'll wait."

Ruiz, 44, is charged in Franklin County Superior Court with five counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.

The latest wrinkle in the ongoing murder case is due to conflicts with Ruiz's attorneys.

Lawyer Kevin Holt was deployed to Afghanistan in December with the Army reserves and had expected to be back this month for Ruiz's scheduled June 29 trial. When co-counsel Bob Thompson got word recently that Holt's return has been delayed to August, the court decided last week to push the trial back to July 27 while Thompson looked for another attorney to step in.

Thompson said Tuesday that he contacted several attorneys on contract with Franklin and Benton counties and they were all either unavailable or not interested in doing a murder case.

So Thompson said he "went to a source familiar" with doing work in the Tri-City courts -- Peter Connick of Seattle. Connick worked with Holt on the Benton County trial and retrial of Kevin Hilton in the 2002 slayings of his Richland landlords.

Thompson, who at one point had been considering a September trial for Ruiz, said Connick will be tied up for seven weeks starting in early September on a capital murder case.

"He believes he can be prepared and ready to try this once he is done with that case," Thompson told the court. "Mr. Ruiz wants to go to trial as quickly as he could, but he understands the necessity of having competent counsel available."

Deputy Prosecutor Frank Jenny said his office is frustrated with the delays, in part because of the difficulties in maintaining all their witnesses for the trial.

"We want to see the matter proceed to trial as soon as realistically possible," Jenny said. But he also conceded that "a case of this magnitude" requires that Ruiz have two attorneys.

Thompson said he spoke with court administrators about a new trial date and was told Nov. 3 was the earliest available based on his schedule and that of Judge Cameron Mitchell.

Mitchell said he was "very reluctant" to continue the trial unless absolutely necessary. He took a short break in the Tuesday hearing to call court administration and confirm that there is no other room in his schedule before November for this lengthy trial.

When asked if he agreed to waive his speedy trial rights until the earliest date available, Ruiz said, "Yes, yep. ... There's nothing else to do, huh?"

"Well, it is up to you, sir," Mitchell responded.

"That's fine," Ruiz said.

Thompson said he still needs to work out his co-counsel issues. Holt may return in time for trial, he said.

"We will be able to go to trial on Nov. 3, either with Mr. Holt or with Mr. Connick," Thompson told the court.

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Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2009

Ruiz agrees to delay murder trial until November

Kristin M. Kraemer, Herald staff writer