Mark Morris students' trials pushed to January

Trials for the two Mark Morris High School students charged with second-degree rape involving other students have been pushed to January.

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During a Tuesday hearing in Cowlitz County Juvenile Court, Judge Gary Bashor signed off on the rescheduled trials for the week of Jan. 11, 2027, with a readiness hearing on Jan. 5.

According to court records, the previous trials were scheduled for July 13.

Both the defendants, ages 16 and 17, have pleaded not guilty to their respective 11 criminal counts, including three counts of second-degree rape and five counts of unlawful imprisonment involving other Mark Morris students on campus.

A decision on whether the teens will have a joint trial has not yet been made.

The trial postponements come a day after suspended Longview School District Superintendent Karen Cloninger was moved from paid to unpaid leave and a day before she pleaded not guilty in Cowlitz County Superior Court over charges of failure to report a child or dependent person's abuse or neglect, tampering with a witness, and obstructing a law enforcement officer.

Dawn Farina, of Puget Law Group, is the attorney representing the 17-year-old defendant. She filed a motion to modify the terms of her client's release, but the details are not yet in court records.

Her client has a hearing on the matter Thursday.

Farina and Kayleigh Mattoon, also of Puget Law Group, filed a motion last week requesting prosecutors release the evidence they've collected. Farina said during the hearing that she had "received very little" so far but was confident the state would provide it.

According to the motion, the defense attorney sent follow-up emails to the prosecuting attorneys on April 12, April 20 and May 1, requesting evidence. In response, the defense received 339 pages of discovery, of which only 39 had significant information, the motion states.

Farina and Angus Lee, of the Vancouver-based Angus Lee Law Firm, both filed motions to waive their clients' rights to a speedy trial.

Last week, prosecutors announced they expect to call at least 50 witnesses for the scheduled trial, the same number of state witnesses expected to be called in Cloninger's case. It is unclear if the witnesses are the same, as the juvenile trials' witnesses have not been released.

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