Summary of Dec 6th, 2018 Sacramento Court Date
Dec 6, 2018 22:02:17 GMT
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Post by winters on Dec 6, 2018 22:02:17 GMT
Joseph James DeAngelo appeared in Sacramento Superior Court today (Thursday, December 6th, 2018) before Judge Michael Sweet at 1:30 PM local time.
The primary purpose of today’s hearing was a progress check and an attempt to resolve the issue of whether DeAngelo should have to hire a private defense attorney or whether he’d continue to work with the public defenders that had been assigned to him back in April 2018. This discussion came on the heels of several meetings held a few days prior, including discussion and estimation by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors that the county-funded prosecution and defense of DeAngelo could cost $20 million or higher. It’s unknown at this point if funds from other counties, the state, or if federal funds will be made available to this case. Several other counties brought charges against DeAngelo, and the FBI helped investigate the case from 2016 to 2018, so it's possible that other jurisdictions will help shoulder the financial burden.
Judge Sweet reviewed some of the arguments and details related to what DeAngelo's financial responsibility to the court should be, and he ruled that DeAngelo may keep his public defenders. Depending on how the proceedings play out, DeAngelo may have to reimburse the court at a later date, and it's been noted before that his personal assets may be at stake in civil matters or in other future actions.
Judge Sweet also addressed previous requests by the defense to ban media coverage of the trial. The judge noted that there's national and international interest in this case, and that he didn't believe that media coverage would affect DeAngelo's right to a fair trial.
Another open issue is the defense's prior objection to capital punishment. That issue wasn’t discussed at this hearing.
The compilation and delivery of discovery documents to the defense team is an ongoing process. DeAngelo's next court date has been scheduled for April 10th, 2019 -- nearly one year after his arrest.
Keep up with the updates at www.goldenstatekillertrial.com
The primary purpose of today’s hearing was a progress check and an attempt to resolve the issue of whether DeAngelo should have to hire a private defense attorney or whether he’d continue to work with the public defenders that had been assigned to him back in April 2018. This discussion came on the heels of several meetings held a few days prior, including discussion and estimation by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors that the county-funded prosecution and defense of DeAngelo could cost $20 million or higher. It’s unknown at this point if funds from other counties, the state, or if federal funds will be made available to this case. Several other counties brought charges against DeAngelo, and the FBI helped investigate the case from 2016 to 2018, so it's possible that other jurisdictions will help shoulder the financial burden.
Judge Sweet reviewed some of the arguments and details related to what DeAngelo's financial responsibility to the court should be, and he ruled that DeAngelo may keep his public defenders. Depending on how the proceedings play out, DeAngelo may have to reimburse the court at a later date, and it's been noted before that his personal assets may be at stake in civil matters or in other future actions.
Judge Sweet also addressed previous requests by the defense to ban media coverage of the trial. The judge noted that there's national and international interest in this case, and that he didn't believe that media coverage would affect DeAngelo's right to a fair trial.
Another open issue is the defense's prior objection to capital punishment. That issue wasn’t discussed at this hearing.
The compilation and delivery of discovery documents to the defense team is an ongoing process. DeAngelo's next court date has been scheduled for April 10th, 2019 -- nearly one year after his arrest.
Keep up with the updates at www.goldenstatekillertrial.com