http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=449426
"A hearing will be held Wednesday for Alyssa Bustamante, now, 16, charged with killing Olten last fall. Cole County Judge Patricia Joyce will likely rule on a number of motions during the proceedings.
Sources said Alyssa Bustamante will not be in court herself Wednesday morning, but her defense team will. And they have a lot to talk about.
Bustamante's public defenders have filed three significant motions, or requests, since Bustamante was certified to stand trial as an adult last November.
First, Bustamante's defense team wants to make sure the prosecution is not on to their case.
"What they have asked the court to do is allow them to file ex parte, or one-sided requests with the court," Hennon said.
That means Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson won't know what documents Bustamante's attorneys request, or why they want them.
Second, Bustamante's attorneys want her to be allowed to come to court in her own clothing, not some jail-issued jumpsuit.
"The defense does not want the defendant to be portrayed as anything other than a person, as opposed to somebody who's appearing here in court directly from the jail," Hennon said.
And third, the Bustamante defense team wants their client to be permitted to finish her high school education.
She would not go to school, but rather Cole County would pay for online classes.
"I think its important to remember that she hasn't been convicted of anything. She is presumed to be innocent. That's a presumption that's present in our criminal justice system," Hennon said. "So she has the right to it. There has been no finding yet to take that legal right away from her."
Another question circulating is whether the Bustamante case will ever make it to trial.
"By statute in Missouri, the only possible sentence in a first degree murder case for a juvenile of 15 years of age is that of life in prison without parole," Hennon said. "So when you only have that possible sentence, a defendant in that scenario has nothing to lose by going to trial."
Hennon said a plea bargain would require that the prosecutor reduce the charges against Bustamante.
Hennon said to expect a lengthy jury selection process if Bustamante stands trial. He said both the defense and the prosecution will likely have a difficult time finding jurors from Greene County who have not heard about Bustamante's case, given the national media coverage the news received last fall."