Questions remain in Weaver case

Judge ponders motions after declaring accused killer fit to stand trial

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Aug 27, 2004, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Ward Weaver is headed to trial on murder, rape and sexual assault charges Ñ but questions of who will represent him, when the trial will start and where it will be held have yet to be answered.

Weaver was declared mentally fit to stand trial by Clackamas County Circuit Judge Robert Herndon during a Wednesday morning hearing.

“Mr. Weaver is able to aid and assist in his own defense,” Herndon said during the hearing.

Weaver is charged with aggravated murder for the 2002 deaths of Ashley Pond, 12, and Miranda Gaddis, 13. They disappeared from their apartments near Weaver’s rented Oregon City home in early 2002. Their bodies were discovered at the home almost exactly two years ago.

Weaver also is charged with raping his son’s 19-year-old girlfriend and sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl at his home while law enforcement agencies were still investigating the Pond and Gaddis disappearances.

Weaver’s attorneys Ñ Michael Barker and Peter Fahy Ñ had filed a motion saying their client was mentally unable to assist in his own defense. Herndon sent Weaver to the Oregon State Hospital for evaluation three months ago. Barker and Fahy withdrew their motion before the hearing began, however. Although Herndon reviewed the report prepared by the hospital, he did not release it.

“He has regained the ability to aid and assist in his own defense,” Barker told Herndon after confirming that he and Fahy had withdrawn their motion.

Herndon’s ruling provoked smiles and sighs of relief from many of the people who crowded into the courtroom, including the mothers of the two young girls Weaver is accused of killing, Lori Pond and Michelle Duffey.

“I’m glad this is going forward,” Pond said outside the Clackamas County Courthouse after the hearing.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment on the ruling, citing a gag order issued by Herndon preventing them from discussing the case.

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