A conference to set the trial date for a man accused of three Bradenton murders is now scheduled for October 2015.
Andres S. Avalos, 34, is accused of killing his wife, Amber Avalos, his neighbor and former Holmes Beach resident, Denise Potter, and the Rev. James “Tripp” Battle III on Dec. 4, 2014.
Avalos was not present at the April 9 conference, according to an order documenting 12th Judicial Circuit court hearing.
His court-appointed attorney, Assistant Public Defender Franklin Roberts, told Judge Deno G. Economou he was working other “big trials” and had not yet conducted depositions in the Avolos case.
Assistant State Attorney Brown expressed concern about delaying the case management conference, which, in turn, could push a trial date into late 2016.
Roberts said he planned on “having a lot of work done on the Avalos case” by September or October 2015.
Economou also wrote in the April 9 order that the Avalos case may be transferred to the court’s major trial division and its presiding judge, Peter Dubensky.
Avalos is being held without bond in Manatee County jail.
A speedy-trial rule requiring a trial within 175 days from the arrest of the accused — which would have required Avalos trial by May 29 — has been waived, according to Brown.
A grand jury indicted Avalos on three counts of first-degree murder in December 2014.
Brown said in February the state will be seeking the death penalty if Avalos is convicted.
Next on the court docket is Roberts’ request that Avalos be transported from jail for a positive emission tomography scan at 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 15 in courtroom 8-A at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
Economou set the next case management date for 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1.