EVERETT — An Arlington man accused of murdering his girlfriend last year continues his pursuit of new lawyers.
Daniel L. Rinker insisted in July that he couldn’t work with his two assigned attorneys. Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Millie Judge denied the man’s request for new counsel, concluding that there wasn’t evidence to support a change.
Rinker, 26, a month later sent Judge a letter complaining that his lawyers refuse to pursue a diminished capacity defense. He included seven pages of a psychological evaluation that is dated June 2013, about a month after he was released from prison for unlawful gun possession.
It appears that Rinker was seeking Social Security benefits at the time of the evaluation. The evaluator listed mental health symptoms that could affect Rinker’s ability to work. She concluded that Rinker has poor impulse control and likely experiences episodes of “poorly controlled anger.” He likely would have an increased risk for acting out or self-harm. He reported having auditory hallucinations and paranoia.
Rinker wrote that he wanted Judge to see the “mental evaluations” because his attorneys don’t want to use them in his defense. He renewed his claim that he can’t work with his assigned lawyers.
Rinker was scheduled to go to trial this month but that date recently was moved to December.
He is accused of shooting Jessica Jones in the head April 8, 2014 during an argument. Jones, 25, of Tulalip, died the next day.
Rinker is charged with second-degree murder. He allegedly told detectives that Jones was hit by gunfire from a passing car. He said he was upstairs when the shooting happened.
Police found Jones on the ground inside a garage. Neighbors told detectives that they heard yelling from the garage followed by a single gunshot. They also reportedly saw Rinker run from the garage and toss something into a nearby field.
Detectives later found a silver revolver in some grass near where the neighbors spotted Rinker. There was an empty casing in the gun. The revolver appeared to be the same gun Rinker was holding in a picture posted on Facebook, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Randy Yates wrote in court papers.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley
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