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 鈥済uilty except insane鈥 evaluation, to determine if he was sane at the time of the two deaths.
At the time of his wife鈥檚 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 鈥済uilty except insane鈥 evaluation Tuesday and accepted the findings, saying Yates was not insane at the time of either slaying.
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Also during the hearing, Yates asked Fell to remove Vincent Frey as one of his attorneys, saying, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we can work it out.鈥
鈥淚 do not feel he鈥檚 going to protect my amendments the way they should be protected,鈥 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鈥檚 department documents that discuss tampering with locks on cell doors.
In a December email to prosecutors Jonathan Mosher and Michelle Chamblee, Frey said there鈥檚 no physical evidence connecting Yates to Roth鈥檚 death and requested information about 鈥渂umping,鈥 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鈥檛 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鈥檛 want to have to bring it up at every hearing but was prepared to do so.
Stephanie Bond, Yates鈥 attorney in the case involving Cassandra Yates鈥 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鈥檚 slaying on June 25. His trial in the Roth case is set for Oct. 8.
