Bryan James Scott, 22, is expected to plead guilty to a first-degree manslaughter charge on Thursday, Jan. 16, in exchange for the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s office dropping a second-degree murder charge against the Mountlake Terrace man. Scott had been charged following the death last June of Chris Patterson, of Edmonds, who died from injuries sustained behind O’Houllies Pub in Mountlake Terrace in October 2012.

Scott was allegedly seen on the pub’s security camera kicking and stomping Patterson in a late-night incident that may have started as a bar fight but what police described as an assault. Patterson was found behind the pub bleeding, unconscious and suffering from significant head injuries; he never regained consciousness and died nine months later.

Following a guilty plea Scott will be sentenced in a few weeks, said Snohomish County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chris Dickinson, who will be recommending Scott receive the maximum sentence for first degree manslaughter, eight years, six months. Scott had been facing a possible sentence of ten years to life if he had been convicted of second degree murder.

Scott and his attorney agreed to the plea deal following a couple postponements to the start of his murder trial. “The offer had been out there for awhile,” Dickinson said, “and he finally accepted.”

— By Doug Petrowski