Michael and Katie Lambard quietly took seats in benches outside a King

Michael and Katie Lambard quietly took seats in benches outside a King County Superior Court hearing room a little before 8:30 this morning. The place where people enter pleas and ask for extensions doesn’t exactly resemble an episode of Law and Order. The defendants who aren’t escorted in from the jail by a skyway sit behind glass while the judge on the other side listens to people explain why they should get a new defense attorney or an extension on their trial. When an attorney assigned by the court to represent the couple for their arraignment came back and asked if Katie Ann Lambard was present, she uttered a barely audible “here.” Neither of the Lambards has a criminal history, and now they face 6 first-degree theft charges and 27 second-degree theft charges, all felonies and all carrying possible jail time. The charges stemmed from getting access to and spending nearly all of an elderly woman named Margaret Martin’s life savings, according to police. Both pleaded “not guilty” to all charges and were released on the condition they continue to show up at hearings and have no contact, directly or indirectly, with Martin. As of now, a trial date hasn’t been set.