Kuest rape trial begins in Adams County Superior Court

The trial of Ritzville man Michael Anthony Kuest, 27, is underway as jury selection began on Tuesday. The trial will proceed immediately after a jury is selected and seated.

Kuest is facing charges in connection to an alleged incident on June 3, 2019, in which he is accused of raping a Spokane woman whom he invited to visit him in Ritzville, according to court documents. The Adams County Prosecutor’s Office filed formal charges on June 5, 2019.

A series of continuances have caused the trial to be delayed from its originally scheduled date of July 23 all the way into 2020. These delays have been mostly caused by Kuest’s attorneys requesting to withdraw from the case for various reasons.

Timothy D. Trageser took over as Kuest’s lawyer less than two weeks before the then-scheduled start date of Oct. 22. Before Trageser was assigned to represent Kuest, four other attorneys had spent time working on the case.