Pre-Trial Hearings & Discussion

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I think all they have to work with will be the Insanity defense here. However, the lies she gave to the media shortly after the murder will be a problem. It clearly shows she knew right from wrong when she killed her and made up stories to cover it up, imo.
 
http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-news-huckaby,0,1092459.story

Former Sunday School teacher Melissa Huckaby did not enter a plea after appearing in the San Joaquin County Courthouse Thursday afternoon.
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During her court hearing Thursday afternoon, Huckaby reportedly petitioned the judge to have her current court-appointed attorney fired and replaced with a new attorney. The court-appointed attorney had previously entered a "not guilty" plea on Huckaby's behalf.
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SeriouslySearching said:
I think all they have to work with will be the Insanity defense here. However, the lies she gave to the media shortly after the murder will be a problem. It clearly shows she knew right from wrong when she killed her and made up stories to cover it up, imo.
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I agree SS. IMHO, it would be a difficult defense to use because of the way she hid Sandra's murder and the disposal of Sandra's body. Then of course as you pointed out, the interviews and contact she had with the media afterwards. Now that I reflect back on her behavior, it was very cat and mouse. As if she thought that no one would ever be able to figure out it was her, yet she couldn't help but inject herself into the fray so to speak.

~Speculation~ I've given it some thought, and given she is also being tried for poisonings too, I would venture to say that MH, if she hadn't been caught with Sandra's murder, would have killed again. JMHO.
 
i think to go for the death penalty, they must have sooo much evidence to prove that it was MH. regarding her using an insanity plea, i don't think it will work one bit. the efforts she went through to hide her body, and then she just had to make sure that we all knew she was involved in the case because she just couldn't stand that people were paying all of this attention to her grandparents and not her. i really believe that she thought the police and community were going to fawn over her about how traumatizing it must have been to have your suitcase stolen and then used to dispose of a body! that is once Sandra was found, i don't think that she thought that was going to happen and once it did, she had to try and weasel her way out of it with yet another poor me story. she truly disgusts me.

i totally agree Kat about her most likely killing again. she had spun out of control and was excited by what she was doing. another thing that will hurt her is the fact that she is charged with drugging another child. when that didn't work out the way she wanted, she changed tactics and that shows premeditation and careful planning. will all of that be able to be introduced at her murder trial do you think?

PS thanks for telling me about this on the Emma Barker thread Kat, i can't believe i missed that she had another hearing!
 
the defense is trying to push her trial to a year and half from now? that is crazy, i hope that they set something up within the next six months or so....
 
Honestly, I don't think those poisonings were murder attempts. I think (at least with the girl) she just wanted to abuse her and a drugged child will offer a lot less resistance. I wouldn't be surprised if Sandra's death was an overdose of something.
 
but it shows a progression in her tactics...to the point where she eventually murdered someone. i don't really think that she was planning on raping Sandra with foreign object and then was going to let her go home when she woke up. she did it again and again, progressively getting worse, knowing full well that she could kill someone by overdosing them (if that is in fact the case, which i agree might be). she knew what she was doing and therefore knew the rights and wrongs and won't get away with an insanity defense, if that's what they go for.

to your point, i do believe that they could possibly argue that it was an accident and that may get her 2nd degree murder rather than 1st and possibly save her from death row.

IMO only, of course.
 
SeriouslySearching said:
I don't think accidental death will fly at all in this case. She abducted her first.
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and internally molested with a screwdriver IIRC.........premeditated 1st degree murder!!! IMO, DP! if this monster ever gets free, she will kill again!
 
forthelost said:
I was only referring to the previous poisoning of the girl.
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I understood your meaning and appreciate your POV forthelost.

The only reason I disagree is that she isn't being tried for only poisoning the girl. She is being tried for poisoning a girl and a man.

To me in my mind, that indicates prior criminal activity that could have resulted in death to two ppl, then we have the murder of Sandra for which she currently being tried...so I concluded that the poisoning for the little girl was not just for easier access to molest, if she did do that.

We don't disagree forthelost, we just see it differently, I respect your opinon.
 
Kat said:
http://www.kcra.com/news/20838293/detail.html

UPDATED: 1:57 pm PDT September 10, 2009
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From the linked article:

quote: "...Huckaby is the granddaughter of Lane Lawless, the pastor of Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy. Police said Huckaby, a former Sunday school teacher, spent an "extraordinary amount of time" at the church...."


Of course this begs the question: What was she doing there at the church all that time? Most reports indicate there were hardly any members of that church, perhaps a handful, and we haven't heard any parents of supposed Sunday school students come forward to say they had children registered there in the "school".
Other reports indicate there had not been any regular services there at the church since 2007.

What in the world was she doing there all that "extraordinary amount of
time"???
 
JoeFromLB said:
From the linked article:

quote: "...Huckaby is the granddaughter of Lane Lawless, the pastor of Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy. Police said Huckaby, a former Sunday school teacher, spent an "extraordinary amount of time" at the church...."


Of course this begs the question: What was she doing there at the church all that time? Most reports indicate there were hardly any members of that church, perhaps a handful, and we haven't heard any parents of supposed Sunday school students come forward to say they had children registered there in the "school".
Other reports indicate there had not been any regular services there at the church since 2007.

What in the world was she doing there all that "extraordinary amount of
time"???
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Good question!!!
 
Many thanks to AWC!

http://www.kcra.com/news/21112816/detail.html
UPDATED: 11:30 am PDT September 25, 2009

...A judge held off Friday on setting a trial date for a woman accused of kidnapping, raping and killing Tracy resident Sandra Cantu...

...Both the defense and prosecution are expected to return Oct. 30 to lay out what they have done and what they need to do.

On Dec. 4, the judge expects to offer a realistic date for trial...
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http://www.insidebayarea.com/crime-courts/ci_13413863
Updated: 09/25/2009 11:35:57 AM PDT

...It'll take a least a couple more months before a trial date is set for the Tracy woman accused of killing and raping 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.

"It's premature to set a trial date today," San Joaquin Superior Court Judge Linda Lofthus said in a hearing for Melissa Huckaby.

Instead, parties will return to court for a progress report Oct. 30 and another hearing Dec. 4, when a trial date may be set...

...In an effort to address Testa's concern about the young witnesses(losing their memory of incidents over time), Behar today also asked the judge to allow conditional exams in the case, which would allow witness testimony to be taped and replayed at trial, if necessary. Lofthus denied the request. Such exams are typically used when witnesses are elderly or ill, or cannot physically attend a trial...
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Just quick updates for those that are following the trial.

Justice for Sandra.
 
Thank you Kat! I am very disappointed that a trial date was not set. I'm not really fond of this judge.....

Salem
 
Salem said:
Thank you Kat! I am very disappointed that a trial date was not set. I'm not really fond of this judge.....

Salem
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I can't say that I'm overly fond of her either. I hope she proves my first impression of her very wrong.
 
Is that why she was all laughs and smiles? :furious:

Sandra Cantu case: Melissa Huckaby laughs and smiles in court, no court date set

According to San Joaquin Superior Court Judge Linda Loftus, “It’s premature to set a trial date today.”
Deputy District Attorney Thomas Testa was not happy with the delay because some of the witnesses are children, whose memories fade as time passes.

According to Mercury News, Huckaby and her attorney, Sam Behar, met with Judge Loftus prior to the hearing, where Behar argued for a trial delay. However, to allay Testa’s concerns about child witnesses, Behar asked the judge to allow witness testimony to be taped prior to trial, and then be replayed during the actual proceeding. Loftus denied the request, citing that such testimony is only used when a witness is ill, elderly, or unable to attend a trial.

During the proceeding, Huckaby sat quietly shackled, but at certain points laughed and smiled with her attorney.



 
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