Second trial of accused rapist reset

PORT ANGELES — A second trial for alleged rapist Martin C. Perez was reset because of interpreter unavailability.

Perez, 40, of Forks, is charged in Clallam County Superior Court with first- and second-degree rape and second-degree assault for an alleged attack on a 45-year-old woman last September.

The jury could not reach a verdict after a one-week trial in March.

A second trial was rescheduled on Friday for June 11 because Bertilda Mendoza, Perez’s Mam interpreter, was not available for a May 21 trial, according to the minutes of the hearing.

The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office alleged that Perez lured a woman to his job site near the east end of Calawah Way, dragged her out of a van and raped her in a garage last Sept. 6.

Perez has maintained his innocence.

A pre-trial status conference was scheduled for June 1.

Perez is being held in the Clallam County jail on $25,000 bail.