A domestic assault trial was continued and hearings for several other defendants were rescheduled after a defense attorney was exposed to someone with COVID-19.

Dennis Scott, an Anacortes attorney, appeared over the phone in Island County Superior Court last Monday and announced that he was in contact with another attorney who has COVID-19.

Scott said he was feeling “somewhat symptomatic.”

Scott admitted that his clients were not happy with having their cases delayed, but Judge Vickie Churchill agreed with him that there was no other choice.

One of Scott’s clients, Carl Nyberg, was scheduled to go to trial the next day on a count of assault in the third degree, a domestic violence crime.

Nyberg was accused of throwing a hairbrush and breaking his girlfriend’s nose in 2018, according to court documents.

Nyberg is being held in Island County Jail on $175,000 bail, which was set when he was late for a court hearing — after he failed to appear in court several times previously.

Churchill said it’s unfortunate that the case has lingered for two years already.

Several arrest warrants were issued for Nyberg during the last two years. Scott is the second attorney on the case

Churchill set the new trial for Dec. 8 as a placeholder as the date will likely change.

In all, Nyberg has three felony cases against him in Island County, as well as one in Skagit County involving the same alleged victim, according to court documents.

In 2018, police pulled Nyberg over in Oak Harbor and found a pipe bomb, an alleged homemade silencer, a semi-automatic AR-15 style weapon and a handgun in his car, according to court documents. He was charged with unlawful possession or control of an explosive device and unlawfully carrying a loaded pistol in a vehicle.

In addition to Nyberg, hearings on three other defendants were rescheduled because of the attorney’s COVID exposure.