A pre-trial conference in a criminal case against former Asante nurse Dani Marie Schofield, who faces 44 felony counts of second-degree assault, has been postponed for a fourth time.

Attorney Jeni Feinberg, of Medford, filed the motion on Schofield’s behalf Wednesday afternoon. The conference had previously been set for 10:30 a.m. Monday before Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jeremy Markiewicz.

One full year since former patients and family members of alleged victims began receiving calls from Medford’s Rogue Regional Medical Center and Medford police advising that they had been impacted by a hospital nurses’ alleged diversion of fentanyl for non-sterile tap water, those on the receiving end of those phone calls say they’re discouraged by ongoing delays.

Schofield, who was arrested June 13 after a more than seven-month investigation involving tens of thousands of documents and witness interviews by detectives, has been out on bond — after posting $400,000 of a $4 million bail — since the week following her arrest. During a press conference following Schofield’s arrest, Medford police announced that Schofield’s indictment named 44 patients as victims of the alleged drug-swapping. The patients had been treated in the intensive care unit at the Medford hospital, and 16 of them died.

Since the summer, attorneys for Schofield, 36, have requested multiple delays of the criminal pre-trial conference, which is scheduled for defense and prosecutors to determine how to move forward in the case. Originally set for July 20, pre-trial was continued to Sept. 9, then Dec. 30. In a third motion to continue, filed Dec. 19, Schofield’s attorneys requested a continuance on the grounds “counsel are not prepared to schedule a trial in this matter due to the amount of discovery and the number of experts needed.”

Wednesday’s motion, moving the pre-trial conference to 10:30 a.m. on April 28, was made on the same grounds. The motion also noted, “Counsel are hoping to reserve a potential trial date to begin in late October, but are not yet able to commit to a date.”

In addition to the delays for the pre-trial conference, Schofield’s attorneys previously filed a pair of motions for a change of judge in the criminal proceedings. The pair of affidavits, filed July 24 and July 25, asserted Schofield believed she could not have “a fair and impartial hearing or trial in this matter” before either Judge Kelly Ravassipour or Judge Laura Cromwell.

Cromwell presided over Schofield’s first appearance June 14 in which the former nurse pleaded not guilty to the 44 counts.

Medford attorney David deVilleneuve said further delays in the criminal case against Schofield change the dynamics in myriad civil cases amassing against her and the Medford hospital.

The first civil case filed, which publicly named Schofield prior to her arrest, was filed last February by Idiart Law Group in Central Point relating to the death of Horace “Buddy” Wilson. Wilson died Feb. 25, 2022, the suit alleges, after Schofield repeatedly swapped prescribed fentanyl with non-sterile tap water, administered through Wilson’s bloodstream via his central line, according to court documents.

Judge Benjamin Bloom issued a stay in that suit, which seeks $11.5 million in damages, in September. DeVilleneuve said a stay had also been issued in recent weeks for a malpractice and wrongful death suit he filed on behalf of 21 former patients in November, seeking $348 million in damages from Asante.

While the suit filed by deVilleneuve’s firm, Shlesinger & deVilleneuve of Medford, does not specifically name Schofield as a defendant, Judge Bloom ordered a stay, citing protection of Schofield’s Fifth Amendment rights, and said the decision would also apply to “all subsequent cases.”

DeVilleneuve said the order of stay comes with suspension of all discovery efforts in the case until the stay is lifted, which deVilleneuve said will further delay civil proceedings.

“I have some people that will not survive the stay. Maybe their death won’t be the direct result of the Asante nurse’s actions. … but some of them are older or have other health concerns that have been made worse by what happened, and they might die before they get their day in court,” he told the Rogue Valley Times on Wednesday, noting that all 21 of his plaintiffs named in the large civil suit were part of the 44 victims identified in the criminal proceedings.

Asante officials have repeatedly declined to respond to requests for comment by the Times.

Phoenix, Arizona, resident Shawn Porter said recent months’ delays marked a third holiday season marred by “some level of sadness, anger or hatred around what has happened.”

Porter’s 71-year-old mother, Klamath Falls native Roberta Porter, died just before Christmas in 2022 after contracting an infection at the Medford hospital. Porter was notified a year later, in December 2023, by hospital officials and Medford police, that his mother’s infection had been caused by a hospital nurse’s swapping of pain medication for non-sterile tap water.

Porter voiced frustration Thursday at the latest delay.

“I understand she has the right to a speedy trial, and if she wasn’t given the option of bail the trial would already be over, but there are no rights for the victims and their families,” Porter said.

“They’re going to keep asking for delays until someone tells them, ‘No.’ They have a track record of getting everything they request … She’s getting her $400,000, and two years’ worth, of freedom … Meanwhile, a bunch of people are dead and others are living attached to bags because their organs are all messed up. The extensions were for a month, then a couple months, now three more months. … It’s nauseating.”

Schofield and her attorneys, who have repeatedly declined requests by the Rogue Valley Times for comment on the upcoming trial, did not respond to an additional request for comment Wednesday.

In addition to an order for a stay in proceedings of at least two civil cases involving alleged drug diversion that took place at Rogue Regional Medical Center, attorneys for one civil case requested, and were denied, a motion for a new judge.

Medford attorney David deVilleneuve filed a Dec. 30 motion asking Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Blook to recuse himself in a $348 million civil case, filed against Rogue Regional Medical Center on behalf of 21 former patients represented by deVilleneuve’s firm.

DeVilleneuve said clients voiced concerns that Bloom had previously represented Asante as a defense attorney.

According to court records, “Plaintiffs’ counsel was informed by Lucien Allen that he does not believe that he would receive a fair and impartial hearing or trial in this matter before Honorable Benjamin Bloom, because Judge Bloom formerly was the attorney for Defendant Asante.”

Bloom denied the request Jan 13.

DeVilleneuve said he worried about his clients’ concerns and about public perception.

“There is some language in some of the statutes that talks about preserving the integrity of the court system in eyes of the public, and I think that kind of concern is legitimate in a big case like this where the public definitely has some interest,” deVilleneuve said.

“If I was the judge, I’d be worried about that. Why would I want the public second-guessing the outcome of the case. … As an attorney, I feel more for my clients and their comfort level. I don’t doubt that Judge Bloom is going to try to do his best job, but I’m worried about the perception of the public.”