James Blum murder trial postponed

    The trial of Washington resident James Dean Blum, 70, has been moved to Jan. 4. It was previously scheduled for Oct. 5. A pre-trial will be held Dec. 27. Blum is charged with the second-degree murder of his wife Patricia Blum, who was found unresponsive in the couple?s home at 1009 East Washington Street on Jan. 11.

    Blum?s attorney John Robertson filed a motion for the continuance last week. Robertson said he wanted more time to prepare pre-trial work. On Friday, Robertson had a teleconference with attorney Barbara Edmondson, representing the state, and District Court Judge Joel Yates. Edmondson objected to the continuance, but Judge Yates decided to grant it nevertheless.  

    In an interview Tuesday, Edmondson said, ?The state felt the continuance was not needed, and certainly not to January. The pre-trial work could have been accomplished much sooner than that.?

    Robertson said it is important to allow enough time to gather evidence for the trial, given the gravity of the charge against the defendant.

For the full story, see the Sept. 28 edition of The Washington Evening Journal