Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Gag Order Issued in Sandra Cantu Case

UPDATE

~Melissa Huckaby



Having replaced Judge Terrence Van Oss, Judge Linda Loftus’s first order of business was to issue a gag order in the Sandra Cantu murder case that bars anyone involved with the case from speaking to the media.

The order prohibits all parties from releasing "information or opinions concerning this case or any issue likely involved."

Huckaby's attorney requested the gag order due to the high profile nature of the murder case, which has been covered extensively by the media.

Yesterday Huckaby's lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Samuel Behar, said he is dropping his request to exhume Sandra Cantu's body because the medical examiner has preserved enough tissue samples the defense can test.

Huckaby, who has not entered a plea, is scheduled to appear before Lofthus on Friday.

Fox40
KTVU

Update!
It appears the FBI is looking into Pastor Lane Lawless, Huckaby's grandfather's connection to abuse allegations at a church in Clarkston, Washington.

7 comments:

katfish said...

Even though a gag order may be frustrating for those trying to follow the case, it may be for the best to ensure a fair trial.

It's not as though the media won't be able to report anything that becomes public record and hopefully the gag order will help keep the media off of Sandra's family's back.

The attorneys involved shouldn't really be commenting anyway, as a matter of proffessionalism ( HEAR THAT JOSE BAEZ! Try reading the Florida Bar Code of Ethics!)

I'm so glad to hear that the defense withdrew their motion to exhume Sandra's body. Her family has been through enough for now, and will have a trial to deal with later, not to mention all of the pre-trial hearings coming up.

Thanks for the report Donchais.

nd said...

Donchais... thanks for the update on this sad story. Bummer for us but good for a fair trial, I so agree Katfish. I just hope it doesn’t adversely affect Sandra's mom who has been speaking out about how police dropped the ball with the drugged 7 yr old. I am so sick of all these degenerates’ crimes against children, forget prison - they need to be shot into space without a shuttle!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the story. Also hoping someone here covers the Craigslist murder by the Boston med student. Huge coverage on the East coast that is eclipsing this case .

Sprocket said...

I don't know if this is old news or not, but it was news to me. Jean Casaras reported on Lisa Bloom this morning that "police have not yet found the murder weapon."

I found that interesting.

katfish said...

Sprocket I find that interesting too, as I assumed Huckaby overdosed Sandra, medicating her for ease of molestation. hmmmm????

Anonymous said...

Does this mean the grandfather molested Huckaby and the little girl? I'm a bit confused.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if it is possible that Huckaby is covering up for her grandfather and because of her troubled past is the first one being blamed. Something doesn't sit well for me in this case, but then none of us know fully what law enforcement found. But it is interesting that the grandfather is (or was) being investigated in Washington and Idaho for molestation allegations. I would assume that Huckaby was not in those other states.

Gentleeyes/Gail

P.S. Sprocket, thanks for you great coverage of the Spector trial. I was glued to the computer and kept refreshing my screen to keep hearing your updates. Good Job!