CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: Ryan Cox arraignment rescheduled after he refuses to appear in court

| Crime | West Seattle news

(August 8th WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)

We’ve just left the King County Courthouse downtown, where Gatewood stabbing suspect Ryan Cox was scheduled to appear for arraignment this morning. These are usually brief appearances, one in a long list of hearings brought sequentially before one judge, but by the time the 8:30 am arraignment calendar ended at 11 am, there’d been no sign or mention of him, so we checked with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Spokesperson Dan Donohoe tells WSB that Cox “refused to appear,” so the arraignment is rescheduled for the 8:30 am calendar on Wednesday. The hearing is for Cox to enter a plea to the charge of second-degree assault that was filed on August 14th, six days after the August 8th attack at California/Orchard that sent a 40-year-old man to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. In the meantime, Cox, who is 39, remains in jail in lieu of $150,000 bail, which was set when he was charged, after he refused twice to appear for a bail hearing .

Jeff August 28, 2017 (11:53 am)

This is ridiculous. I see no need to continue to delay the process. My understanding is that, if a defendant is unable or unwilling to appear, the court will typically enter a “Not Guilty” plea on his behalf and the process can move forward. I see no reason why they can’t do that in this instance.

Franci August 28, 2017 (11:59 am)

I’m curious, what is the protocol if he refuses again? Seems like they should have been prepared for this, given his refusal to appear for the previous hearings. Or if he refuses to appear, the default is a guilty plea, then they can go on to next steps in the process.

WSB August 28, 2017 (12:35 pm)

I don’t think you can ever default to a guilty plea. We’ll see what happens, or doesn’t, on Wednesday.
Brian August 28, 2017 (1:22 pm)

Holy wow you have no clue how the American justice system works. “Default to a guilty plea” lol are you serious with this?
Katie August 28, 2017 (1:27 pm)

There is no default guilty plea. The default would be “not guilty.”

Franci August 28, 2017 (3:00 pm)

I was thinking that if the default for voluntary absence was guilty it would be a motivating factor to show up.

old timer August 28, 2017 (4:31 pm)

IMO-

He’s getting meals and a place to sleep.

He may be whack-o, but he is not dumb.

He will stretch this out as long as he can.

flimflam August 28, 2017 (5:10 pm)

lol so just refuse to appear forever? give me a break, this has dragged on long enough. its clear he stabbed the poor victim, what else do we need to know?

Amy August 28, 2017 (5:32 pm)

If you are in jail how can refuse/ not show for a court hearing?

WSB August 28, 2017 (5:53 pm)

The deputies escort inmates to the courthouse. If someone says they’re not going, they’re not necessarily empowered to force them to. See this comment on an earlier story:

https://westseattleblog.com/2017/08/followup-gatewood-stabbing-suspect-ryan-cox-again-refuses-to-appear-for-bail-hearing/#comment-2101662

Jon August 28, 2017 (6:05 pm)

So what’s the “shot clock” on this guy just being released back onto the streets again?

If your average taxpayer gets stuck in traffic on the way to their traffic ticket court date, the court issues an arrest warrant and hunts down the offending party for the rest of their lives just to collect a few hundred bucks.

A complete maniac stabs someone after decades of trouble and the court finds it in their hearts to make some room in for him a Wednesday or two (depending on his schedule).

Seattle is an interesting place.

WSB August 28, 2017 (6:08 pm)

Don’t know. Currently I’m writing another story about a repeat offender who’s been in jail for almost six months in lieu of bail that’s four percent of what Ryan Cox’s is set at.

Jim P. August 28, 2017 (9:23 pm)

“The deputies escort inmates to the courthouse. If someone says they’re
not going, they’re not necessarily empowered to force them to”

Seems easily fixable. Time to start charging such people with contempt of court, which is what is occurring. Try this trick with jury duty and see if anyone smiles or the judge just says ‘Golly, well maybe next week if it’s OK with you?” or if you have a summons.

I agree this cannot be turned into a guilty plea but defendants must not be allowed to thumb their nose at society’s legal system in this manner.

Try saying “Oh bother, I just don’t fell like doing that right now” when being arrested and see what you get.

wscommuter August 28, 2017 (10:15 pm)

Relax people. If an incarcerated person “refuses” to appear, it only means that the defendant won’t leave his cell and jail officers aren’t going to physically force him to go … yet – because they can’t without a court order. So they get a court order if necessary . No big deal. His refusal is not all that uncommon. His case is moving forward. He isn’t stalling the prosecution in any appreciable way.

Sorry, comment time is over.