GUILTY CA - Christina Williams, 13, Seaside, 12 June 1998 *arrest*

[Niner]

Thursday, October 7th:
*Motions Hearing (@ am PT) - CA – Christina Marie Williams (13) (June 12, 1998, Seaside; found 7 months later) – *Charles Holifield (56/37 @ time of crime) arrested (4/17/17), charged (5/10/17), arraigned (1/16/18) & indicted (2/23/18) with 1st degree murder, special allegations of kidnapping & lewd acts on children. Plead not guilty. DA seeks DP.
DNA match
Trial was set to start on 10/7/19, moved to 3/2/20.
Also suspect in Jennifer Morris murder. Holifield is serving a third-strike sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the attempted kidnapping of a 23-year-old woman. Also was convicted of sexually assaulting or raping two teenage girls, and he was suspected of raping a third, between 1979 and 1983. All the attacks took place on Fort Ord.
3/6/19 Update: Motions hearing, next hearing 3/27, Calendar Call hearing 10/2, trial set for 10/7/19. 3/27/19 Update: Next Ruling hearing on 4/24.
8/29/19 Update: Judge Pamela Butler denied a motion Thursday by Holifield’s attorney to remove the possibility of the death penalty from the murder trial, which the defense filed on grounds the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment, as well as a separate motion arguing the state’s death penalty statute is unconstitutional. Butler denied another motion arguing that due to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s death penalty moratorium the jury wouldn’t be able to believe a death sentence would be able to be carried out if Holifield were to be found guilty and the death penalty was his sentence. Returns to court Tuesday (9/3) when Butler is expected to make a decision on a motion to suppress a past statement by Holifield. A motion to change the venue of the trial could be brought up as well Tuesday.
9/3/19 Update: Some 60,000 pages of documents are missing for defense. Plus FBI are sending additional pages. Additional time will be needed so trial has been continued. Trial has been moved to 3/2/20 @ 8:30am. Next motions hearing on 10/17. Calendar call hearing on 2/27/20 @ 1:30pm.

 

[Niner]

Oops - I see I miss typed the date above - it should have been October 17th not the 7th....

Man accused of killing 13-year-old Christina Williams back in court


SALINAS, Calif. —

Charles Holifield, the man accused of kidnapping and killing 13-year-old Christina Williams in 1998, was back in court this morning.

The prosecution and defense questioning FBI Special Agent John O'Brien and Monterey County D.A.'s Office Chief Investigator, Ryan McGuirk, about whether they knew Holifield had a public defender before he was formally indicted with Christina Williams' murder. Both men testifying they didn't know.
[.....]
Holifield will be back in court November 14 for rulings on all outstanding motions. His trial is set for March of next year.

 

[Niner]

Oops - I had my notes under Nov. 15th, instead of the 14th..... posting anyway!

Thursday, November 14th:
*Pretrial Hearing (@ am PT) - CA – Christina Marie Williams (13) (June 12, 1998, Seaside; found 7 months later) – *Charles Holifield (56/37 @ time of crime) arrested (4/17/17), charged (5/10/17), arraigned (1/16/18) & indicted (2/23/18) with 1st degree murder, special allegations of kidnapping & lewd acts on children. Plead not guilty. DA seeks DP.
DNA match
Trial was set to start on 10/7/19, moved to 3/2/20.
Also suspect in Jennifer Morris murder. Holifield is serving a third-strike sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the attempted kidnapping of a 23-year-old woman. Also was convicted of sexually assaulting or raping two teenage girls, and he was suspected of raping a third, between 1979 and 1983. All the attacks took place on Fort Ord.
Court hearing from 3/6/19 thru 8/29/19 reference post #61 here:
CA - CA - Christina Williams, 13, Seaside, 12 June 1998
9/3/19 Update: Some 60,000 pages of documents are missing for defense. Plus FBI are sending additional pages. Additional time will be needed so trial has been continued. Trial has been moved to 3/2/20 @ 8:30am. Next motions hearing on 10/17. Calendar call hearing on 2/26/20 @ 1:30pm.
10/17/19 Update: Next hearing on 11/14.

 

[Niner]

@Emi - any new court dates before the March one?

Charles Holifield - Case #SS170397A

Public Portal - Superior Court of Monterey, County of Monterey

TIA!

 

[Niner]

Does anyone think that he was in court on Tuesday, 12/10 per article or just a press release??

DA: Man who kidnapped, killed teen girl in late 1990s cold case waives trial, appeals

A man has waived his right to a trial and appeal in a 1999 cold case murder of a 13-year-old girl found dead in Marina, prosecutors reported Tuesday.
[.....]
Prosecutors said Holifield waived his right to a jury trial and appeals in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to not seek the death penalty.
[.....]
Holifield's waiver means his appeals are automatically terminated, prosecutors said.

Hollifield was originally incarcerated in 1999 and is currently in prison at Soledad CTF.

 

[Niner]

@Emi - I have your name on this case - can you look on the Monterey County and see if his next hearing is 2/6/20?

TIA!

edited to add: see post #64 for case #

 

[Niner]

@Emi - any new court dates before the March one?

Charles Holifield - Case #SS170397A

Public Portal - Superior Court of Monterey, County of Monterey

TIA!

@Suglo - can you get into the court site? Haven't heard from Emi, and I noticed you are here too! TIA!

 

[Suglo]

@Suglo - can you get into the court site? Haven't heard from Emi, and I noticed you are here too! TIA!

They had a hearing on 12/12/19 on a Ruling for a Motion. That is now going to be heard again on 01/23/20 at 10:00 am in Department 3. There is also a Trial Readiness Conference on 02/26/20 at 1:30 pm in Department 3 with a Court Trial date of 03/02/20 at 8:30 am in Department 3. (Looks like he waived jury trial as it says Court trial not jury trial). Also the case number is
SS170597A.
I copied and pasted that case number and now have this bolded font but don’t feel like trying to figure out how to change it on my phone.

 

[Niner]

Thanks a bunch @Suglo !! Much appreciated.

Edited to add: It will be a "Bench Trial" - the Judge will decide.

 

[Suglo]

Thanks a bunch @Suglo !! Much appreciated.

Edited to add: It will be a "Bench Trial" - the Judge will decide.

Yes. The term eluded me yesterday!

 

[alexia98]

Finally a suspect was charged. If he's the real culprit I hope this man will spend the rest of his life behind bars (if possible in a maximum security prison...)

 

[Niner]

Thursday, January 23rd:
*Pretrial Hearing (@ 10am PT) - CA – Christina Marie Williams (13) (June 12, 1998, Seaside; found Jan. 12, 1999) – *Charles Holifield (56/37 @ time of crime) arrested (4/17/17), charged (5/10/17), arraigned (1/16/18) & indicted (2/23/18) with 1st degree murder, special allegations of kidnapping & lewd acts on children. Plead not guilty. DA seeks DP.
DNA match
Bench Trial was set to start on 10/7/19, moved to 3/2/20.
Also suspect in Jennifer Morris murder. Holifield is serving a third-strike sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the attempted kidnapping of a 23-year-old woman. Also was convicted of sexually assaulting or raping two teenage girls, and he was suspected of raping a third, between 1979 and 1983. All the attacks took place on Fort Ord.
Court hearing from 3/6/19 thru 8/29/19 reference post #61 here:
CA - CA - Christina Williams, 13, Seaside, 12 June 1998
9/3/19 Update: Some 60,000 pages of documents are missing for defense. Plus FBI are sending additional pages. Additional time will be needed so trial has been continued. Trial has been moved to 3/2/20 @ 8:30am. Next motions hearing on 10/17. Calendar call hearing on 2/26/20 @ 1:30pm.
10/17/19 Update: Next hearing on 11/14. 11/14/19: Motions Hearing on ruling was held on 12/12/19. Waived his right to a jury trial & appeals in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to not seek the death penalty. Holifield's waiver means his appeals are automatically terminated. Next pretrial hearing on 1/23/20. Trial Readiness hearing on 2/26. And Bench Trial is scheduled on 3/2/20.

 

[Niner]

@Suglo - can you check & see if the next court date IS 2/26 - Trial Readiness hearing?

TIA!

 

[Suglo]

@Suglo - can you check & see if the next court date IS 2/26 - Trial Readiness hearing?

TIA!

@Niner Yes the two dates are still on calendar. A trial readiness hearing on 2/26/2020 at 1:30 pm and a Trial of 3/2/2020 at 8:30 am. I signed up to get updates when those things happen or if they are moved.

 

[Niner]

Thanks a bunch for checking that out for me!

 

[Suglo]

Thanks a bunch for checking that out for me!

You’re very welcome!

 

[Suglo]

@Niner I signed up for case text alerts and got one late last night that the 2/26/2020 hearing has been vacated. Looks like they held it on 2/19/2020 and the trial is set to begin on 3/2/2020. I’ll check back again this week to make sure nothing new is posted.

ETA Defendant’s attorney filed some sort of motion yesterday. I wonder if they are trying to push out the trial. I will definitely check back in this week to see if they post anything new.

 

[Niner]

Thank you for the update Suglo! Making notes now...

 

[Niner]

Charles Holifield murder trial set to begin Monday – Monterey Herald

February 29, 2020

SALINAS — Nearly 22 years after Christina Williams disappeared and close to three years after charges were filed, the Charles Holifield murder trial will begin Monday.

Deputy District Attorney Lindsey O’Shea, the lead prosecutor on the case, said she expects the trial to last about a month. She said Wednesday the DA’s Office has yet to file a list of potential witnesses for the trial and wouldn’t go into many details about who the prosecution will call to testify.
[.....]
After the DA’s Office said in 2018 it would pursue the death penalty if Holifield were found guilty, it announced in December it would drop the potential of capital punishment in the case in exchange for Holifield waiving his rights to a jury trial and his rights to writs and appeals, which will terminate the appellate process resulting in a swift and final judgment if a guilty verdict is rendered.

“It makes the change of venue motion that the defense filed moot because obviously the judge can be fair,” O’Shea said, adding that jury selection for the case would have been time-consuming given the extensive media coverage it received.

O’Shea previously said the trial, including jury selection, could have lasted more than three months if it remained a jury trial. It also will move along more quickly because the judge does not have to accommodate the schedule of the 12 jurors.
[.....]
Holifield is currently serving a third-strike sentence of 25 years to life in prison at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad for attempted kidnapping and making criminal threats against a woman in September 1998. Holifield also was convicted of sexually assaulting or raping two teenage girls, and he was suspected of raping a third, between 1979 and 1983. All the attacks took place on Fort Ord.

 

[Niner]

Monday, March 2nd:
*Bench Trial set to begin (@ 8:30am PT) - CA – Christina Marie Williams (13) (June 12, 1998, Seaside; found Jan. 12, 1999) – *Charles Holifield (37 @ time of crime/56/now 58) arrested (4/17/17), charged (5/10/17), arraigned (1/16/18) & indicted (2/23/18) with 1st degree murder, special allegations of kidnapping & lewd acts on children. Plead not guilty.
DNA match
Bench Trial set to begin on 3/2/20. Trial expected to last a month.
Also suspect in Jennifer Morris murder. Holifield is serving a third-strike sentence of 25 years to life in prison for the attempted kidnapping of a 23-year-old woman. Also was convicted of sexually assaulting or raping two teenage girls, and he was suspected of raping a third, between 1979 and 1983. All the attacks took place on Fort Ord.