Hearing today for Melissa Huckaby
The attorney for Melissa Huckaby of Tracy is expected to ask a judge today to toss the indictment that charges his client with the kidnapping, rape and murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.
San Joaquin County Deputy Public Defender Sam Behar, in a second volley of court papers, is also attacking Tracy police investigators who arrested Huckaby, 28, after Sandra's body was found in April entombed in a black suitcase.
Details of Huckaby's case - what killed Sandra and the instrument used in her alleged rape - remain a mystery to the public, because the judge has sealed the grand jury transcripts, the autopsy reports and other documents.
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Linda Lofthus set today's hearing to ask Behar in a closed hearing about the progress of his defense preparations. In a previous hearing, Behar asked for more time before Lofthus set a trial date.
The court would not release to The Record the motions Behar filed ahead of today's hearing. Behar is expected to ask Lofthus to seal them along with any response by San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Thomas Testa.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091030/A_NEWS/910300314#STS=g1f5fcqe.hti
The attorney for Melissa Huckaby of Tracy is expected to ask a judge today to toss the indictment that charges his client with the kidnapping, rape and murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.
San Joaquin County Deputy Public Defender Sam Behar, in a second volley of court papers, is also attacking Tracy police investigators who arrested Huckaby, 28, after Sandra's body was found in April entombed in a black suitcase.
Details of Huckaby's case - what killed Sandra and the instrument used in her alleged rape - remain a mystery to the public, because the judge has sealed the grand jury transcripts, the autopsy reports and other documents.
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Linda Lofthus set today's hearing to ask Behar in a closed hearing about the progress of his defense preparations. In a previous hearing, Behar asked for more time before Lofthus set a trial date.
The court would not release to The Record the motions Behar filed ahead of today's hearing. Behar is expected to ask Lofthus to seal them along with any response by San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Thomas Testa.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091030/A_NEWS/910300314#STS=g1f5fcqe.hti