Huntsman gets new attorney, trial delayed

UPDATE 10/28/16 3:30 PM:

A new attorney has been appointed to represent accused child killer Tami Huntsman in her death penalty case.

Longtime defense attorney William Scott Erdbacher accepted the case on Friday. He was part of another high profile child abuse case, representing Eraca Craig in 2015 when she and Cristian Deanda were convicted of torturing children under their care.

Huntsman and co-defendant, Gonzalo Curiel, are accused of abusing and killing Delylah Tara, 3, and Shaun Tara, 6, and abusing their sister.

During Friday’s hearing, Judge Pamela Butler vacated the February trial date. She also asked Erdbacher when he would be ready to go to trial. He said he couldn’t answer the question, and needed time to catch up with the thousands of pages and nearly a terabyte of evidence.

The next hearing is set for Nov. 16.

“Theoretically, the next hearing would be for Judge Butler to make her decision on Mr. Erdbacher’s qualifications — which I think would be pro forma at this point — also to set a trial date and then also, depending on the results of the November elections, the face of the case may change,” said Jeremy Dzubay, Curiel’s attorney.

That’s because there are two opposing death penalty propositions on the ballot.

Prop 62 would repeal the death penalty for inmates found guilty of murder and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prop 66 would change the death penalty appeal process.

There’s also Prop 57, which is aimed at giving early release for some felons convicted of nonviolent offenses, and calls for a judge to decide whether to try a juvenile as young as 14 in adult court. That could matter because Curiel was 17 when he was charged.

“At least at this point it’s an open question as to whether or not Gonzalo Curiel would have the right to suspend the proceedings in Superior Court and have his case taken back to the juvenile court and to have the judge in the juvenile court make the determination of where the prosecution should take place,” Dzubay said.

Earlier this week, the Monterey County District Attorney, the Sheriff and local police chiefs discussed the possible impacts if Prop 57 passes.

D.A. Dean Flippo could not comment on the Huntsman and Curiel case specifically, but said his office only pursues taking a juvenile to adult court in cases considered “the worst of the worst.”

“We probably have never filed more than three direct filings in any year and we rely on the juvenile system,” Flippo said. “There are certain crimes that age level of juvenile, that in our opinion and we were given that power to make that determination that we should go directly into adult court.”

A lot of uncertainty in the courtroom until after election results are certified.

UPDATE 10/28/16 10:15 AM: Tami Hunstman and Gonzalo Curiel were in court Friday, where a new attorney was appointed to represent Huntsman. Scott Erdbacher is a longtime Salinas attorney. A new court hearing will be held on November 16. The trial was set to begin next February, but was cancelled. No new trial date has been set.

UPDATE 10/4/16: A Monterey County judge said the trial in a child murder case against Tami Huntsman and Gonzalo Curiel may need to be delayed.

The trial is scheduled for February 2017. But on Tuesday a judge said the case may need to be pushed back to September.

The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said the defense is having a difficult time finding a second attorney to represent Huntsman, who is facing the death penalty.

PREVIOUS STORY: A showdown in a Monterey County courtroom, as attorneys debate the next steps in a deadly child abuse case. The issue at hand — will defense attorneys for Tami Huntsman be ready by February?

Huntsman and Gonzalo Curiel are accused of killing two children and torturing a third.

Their trial is scheduled for next February. On Friday, defense attorneys asked for another year to prepare. Prosecutors accused the defense of deliberately delaying the trial.

“That’s a ridiculous amount of time to have to take preps for a case,” said prosecutor Steve Somers.

On Friday, attorneys clashed, at what should have been a simple court hearing on Friday.

“Then they go and say, the DA took so long to decide whether this is a death penalty case to delay the whole process, when it fact it was a date requested by counsel for that. They didn’t want this decision made before the defendant had given birth, they didn’t want that stress, I understood that. They didn’t want their clients in front of the cameras, nine months pregnant, I understood that. They wanted more time to prepare, I understood that,” Somers said.

“We have to make sure the process is done correctly when they are seeking to execute my client,” defense attorney Kay Duffy said.

Judge Pamela Butler ultimately decided to deny the motion, keeping February on the calendar.

She also approved a motion bringing on a second defense attorney — heavy hitter from Southern California.

Marsha Morrissey represented the Menendez brothers in the 1989 murder trial of their parents and music producer Phil Spector.

On Friday, Morrissey declined signing up for the case. She and Duffy don’t believe four months is enough time to prepare for a death penalty case.

“I would be ethically required to withdraw from this case if this trial is set prior to September 2017, based upon what has to be done, what is required to be completed prior to trial,” Duffy said.

Huntsman and Curiel will be back in court October 14. That’s the deadline to decide who will defend their case.