An Alaska judge has ordered a new trial for a Kasigluk resident who was convicted by a Bethel jury of sexual abuse of a minor in 2022. That comes just weeks after a former judge in the case stepped down as the state’s top public defender amid allegations of misconduct.
In a recent order granting the motion for a new trial, Superior Court Judge Brent E. Bennett wrote that allegations of an undisclosed conflict of interest involving former judge Terrence Haas did not factor into the decision.
Instead, Bennett wrote that the way the court handled four separate evaluations that found the defendant in the case not competent to stand trial after he had already been convicted were sufficient to order a new trial.
In August 2022, a Bethel jury convicted 65-year-old Peter Albrite of five counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor.
The Sept. 17 order for a new trial focuses on Albrite’s competency. His first evaluation came in November 2022, several months after his conviction, when a Bethel-based psychologist found him not competent to stand trial.
What followed was roughly a year and a half of evaluations that found him alternatively competent or not. That included one instance when the same Bethel-based psychologist said his supposed competency seemed to be a learned behavior rather than genuine understanding.
With the order, Albrite’s conviction has been vacated. Before he can stand trial, the court has ordered that he be evaluated for competency again.
Albrite is currently incarcerated at the Goose Creek Correctional Center. His case has been assigned to Bethel Superior Court Judge William Montgomery.
According to a spokesperson for the Alaska Court System, Albrite is entitled to a new bail hearing in his case. A hearing had not been set as of Sept. 23.
Haas, a Bethel Superior Court judge at the time of Albrite’s conviction, presided over the case up until his appointment by the governor to head the Alaska Public Defender Agency in September 2023.
Earlier this month, Haas resigned from the lead public defender position. The move came after he wrote in an email that the governor’s office had made his job untenable due to its alleged response to claims that Haas was romantically involved with his law clerk, now his wife, during the Albrite case.
The Alaska Judicial Council confirmed on Sept. 22 that it would begin the process by the end of the week to nominate a new lead public defender to be considered for appointment by the governor.
Assistant Attorney General Bailey Woolfstead, the prosecutor in the Albrite case, wrote by email on Sept. 22 that the Alaska Department of Law is evaluating the impacts of the order and is still considering the next steps forward.
