PENDLETON – Co-counsel won’t be appointed for murder suspect Kathleen Blankenship.

During a hearing Thursday, defense lawyer Kathleen Bergland and Blankenship said there wasn’t enough time for a new lawyer to learn the case before it was scheduled to start March 3.

“I can’t imagine another attorney would be able to read (50,000 pages of discovery),” Bergland said. “I’ve been reading it for two years.”

Blankenship is accused of murdering her husband, Walter Blankenship, in their Hermiston-area home in April 2001.

The issue of a co-counsel came up after Bergland and her team weren’t ready for trial this month.

Judge Garry Reynolds thought a co-counsel might ensure that she would be ready for trial in March.

During Thursday’s hearing, Reynolds stressed that he wanted no further delays. Bergland said she discussed the matter of co-counsel with indigent defense and that it recommended she use additional funds for co-counsel on defense experts.

Two additional hearings were scheduled before the trial starts.

On Jan. 22, motions will be discussed, including a defense motion to stop the prosecution from introducing other bad acts by Kathleen Blankenship – such as allegations of theft and forgery.

Those alleged financial improprieties, and Walter Blankenship’s discovery of them, form the crux of the case, the prosecution said in a previous hearing.

The defense also has filed a motion to introduce character evidence about Walter Blankenship.

In an admission to police shortly after the killing, Kathleen Blankenship said she shot her husband because he was abusive to her and her sons, and she couldn’t bear the thought of him hurting anyone anymore.

Bergland may use an extreme emotional disturbance defense – that Blankenship shot her husband because she couldn’t control her actions due to extraordinary stress surrounding the incident. Such a defense essentially could reduce a murder charge to manslaughter.

The prosecution has a motion to compel discovery from the defense.

Umatilla County District Attorney Chris Brauer said he had only received one document from Bergland’s defense team. “We have gotten nothing,” he added.

There is a mutual obligation for the defense and the prosecution to provide information to one another.

Another hearing was set for Feb. 10 to deal with subpoenas, issued both by the prosecution and defense.

Blankenship said during the hearing she was satisfied with her defense team.