A Pima County judge ruled Tuesday that a man accused of killing his wife and cellmate was not insane at the time of the slayings.
King Yates is facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the December 2016 shooting of his wife, Cassandra Yates, and the April 2017 asphyxiation death of Branden Roth, his jail cellmate.
Superior Court Judge Howard Fell ruled in February that Yates was competent to stand trial, but ordered him to undergo a second competency exam, or a “guilty except insane” evaluation, to determine if he was sane at the time of the two deaths.
At the time of his wife’s death, Yates was not taking prescribed antipsychotic medication, and after he was booked into jail, he was under-medicated, according to his attorneys.
Fell reviewed the “guilty except insane” evaluation Tuesday and accepted the findings, saying Yates was not insane at the time of either slaying.
Also during the hearing, Yates asked Fell to remove Vincent Frey as one of his attorneys, saying, “I don’t think we can work it out.”
“I do not feel he’s going to protect my amendments the way they should be protected,” Yates told Fell, who asked which amendments were in jeopardy.
Yates said he had an issue with the way Frey handled a request involving sheriff’s department documents that discuss tampering with locks on cell doors.
In a December email to prosecutors Jonathan Mosher and Michelle Chamblee, Frey said there’s no physical evidence connecting Yates to Roth’s death and requested information about “bumping,” a practice in which inmates are able to avoid having their doors securely locked.
As part of the request , Frey agreed not to show Yates the documents on bumping, which Yates said Tuesday indicated Frey wasn’t putting his best effort into defending him.
Fell initially denied his request for a new attorney, but Yates addressed the issue with Frey again several minutes later, saying he didn’t want to have to bring it up at every hearing but was prepared to do so.
Stephanie Bond, Yates’ attorney in the case involving Cassandra Yates’ death, told Fell she was willing to take over for Frey to avoid a delay in the trial by having to assign a new attorney.
Fell then granted the motion and assigned Bond to the case involving Roth.
Yates is scheduled for trial in connection with his wife’s slaying on June 25. His trial in the Roth case is set for Oct. 8.
