More delays in the Samantha Runnion Case
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2563107/detail.html
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Lawyers for a man accused of killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion told a judge Friday they expect to challenge the admissibility of the prosecution's scientific evidence, which could delay the Jan. 12 trial date.
But Deputy Public Defender Denise Gragg also said she does not expect to be ready to bring her challenge until at least the first of the year.
Gragg said some of the testing in the case has not been done in California before. Outside the courtroom, lawyers declined to comment on the testing.
Alejandro Avila, 28, is charged with kidnapping, sexually assaulting and asphyxiating the Stanton girl kidnapped from her home July 15, 2002. Her body was found the next day off Ortega (74) Highway.
The Lake Elsinore man was arrested July 19.
Gragg said she is still awaiting test results, and that other information must be gathered after that.
But District Attorney Anthony Rackauckas told Superior Court Judge William Froeberg the case should remain on track.
"I would not want to have these issues cause a delay in the trial," Rackauckas said. "If we are in a position of waiting for all this science to be finalized, it could be years and years."
"If there is evidence that is not ready because the procedures are taking too long, then I think we should proceed without it," Rackauckas said.
Orange County Superior Court Judge William Froeberg set a hearing for Nov. 21 to see where the test results stand.
Rackauckas said prosecutors are ready to proceed.
"Take a case like this, where a lot of evidence is collected," Rackauckas said outside the courtroom. "Frankly, you can test it forever. Everytime we do a test, the defense wants to do additional validation."
Neither he nor Deputy District Attorney David Brent would elaborate on the testing. "We don't want to be specific on what kind of evidence we're talking about," he said.
Prosecutors also filed a document that lays out the basis for which they will seek the death penalty if Avila is convicted.
It will include "all the facts and circumstances surrounding the crimes of which the defendant was convicted in the present procedure ... (and) such facts and circumstances including victim impact testimony from the parents, relatives and friends of Samantha Runnion."
Also, according to the document, "the following prior incident or attempted incident of violence by the defendant: the 1999 sexual assault child molesting of Cara B... in Riverside County."
Avila had been charged with molesting two 9-year-old girls, including a former girlfriend's daughter who lived in the same complex as Samantha. A Riverside jury acquitted Avila in 2001.