To release the reports would risk “a danger of public outrage” and threaten the Cantu family’s privacy, said San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Linda Lofthus at an arraignment today for suspected murder-rapist 28-year-old Melissa Chantel Huckaby.
Huckaby entered no plea.
“There is no doubt that the public considers the rape and murder of a child a heinous crime,” said Lofthus, who issued a gag order Tuesday. To seal all the documents related to the case will ensure a fair trial for both sides, she continued.
The defense dropped its request to exhume the little girl’s body.
Prosecutor Thomas Testa said both sides need about a month to review findings, which includes nearly 500 pages of written evidence and some audio recordings, he said. Lofthus ordered Huckaby back in court at 1 p.m. May 22 in Dept. 14 for further arraignment.
Huckaby’s demeanor in court today came as a stark contrast to her near-emotional breakdown at her first arraignment earlier this month. She smiled a few times at her public defender, Sam Behar. She stared calmly at the judge and at the dozens of reporters and the bailiffs who surrounded her during the brief hearing. She wore her hair down.
She sat calmly before the packed courtroom; her family sat behind her in the audience — father, Brian Lawless; grandmother, Connie Lawless; and aunt, Joni Hughes.
Sandra’s family sat on the opposite side of the room. The girl’s uncle and aunt, Joe and Angie Chavez, sat with Sandra’s grandparents, José and Dolores Chavez. Susan Levy joined them. Sandra’s father, Daniel Cantu, and her mother, Maria Chavez, were absent.
Reporters crowded the courtroom. The judge banned all cameras and audio recorders, so photographers waited outside. The media attention has been overwhelming for everyone involved, the judge said.
“This is the kind of case that we’ve never experienced in San Joaquin County,” Lofthus said.
Police arrested Huckaby on April 10, four days after they found Sandra’s body inside a waterproof suitcase. The girl went missing on March 27.
Huckaby was booked at San Joaquin County Jail without bail on charges that she kidnapped Sandra, raped her with some object and killed her. As charged, the single mother of a 5-year-old girl now faces the death penalty or life without possibility of parole if convicted.
• Contact Tracy Press reporter Jennifer Wadsworth at 830-4225 or jwadsworth@tracypress.com.
I just finished reading about all of Midsi's injuries. I do pray that she comes out of this. My brother broke his neck 25 years ago and as a result became a quadrapalegic. To say his life is compromised would be a huge understatement. Although the article said that she can feel her toes, thank God. Please tell her family that people are praying for her!!!!
My heart is literally broken to read your letter. It just makes me cry. I'm so very, very sorry for all the suffering you have gone through. I'm so sorry that I wasn't their to help all of these children including you. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I would have. I really would have protected you. I do understand first hand what rape feels like. I'm a victime too. We had a ralative who attempted to sexually molest my siblings also, we did call the police. They did nothing, but my mother called the police department to complain about the manner in which they treated us. Another police officer was sent to our home to talk with all of us kids. Our mother threw the man out of our lives forever. He was never allowed back into our home. My mother had no tolerance for the BS. That was a long time ago. Look at how things have changed. We now have Megan's law and pedaphiles now where anklets.
I look back in time and I see progress here. It doesn't seem like much, but it is something. It's a start.
I know what Ellie Nesler felt when she killed. I really do understand her. She was so angry and killed him. I'm sorry that no one was there to help her through this terrible time in her life so that she would have not killed this man but instead done something else to help us all. She was a very smart woman and she could have done so much for us especially for little helpless children. I'm so very sorry that she wasted her life in jail instead.
I hope that Sandra's family will come together and help us all find solutions to this very, very serious problem. Since the death of their precious little girl got so much attention world wide, they have so much power to make changes in society so that we can start some serious changes with this very dramatizing problems.
They have the power to get the police and CPU to start taking this problem even more serious than it is now.
I hope that the pedaphiles will one day be able to wear bracelets instead of anklets so we can clearly know who to keep our children away from .
I'm confident that little by little we can fix this problem that seems impossible to fix. But we can do it. I know we can. I believe in humans abilities to find creative and innovative solutions and even cures to our problems.
I know first hand what it feels like to get brain damage. I do not wish that on anyone. I know that killing people only causes more very severe brain damage and it seriously is not the answer. We all already have enough brain damage and we don't need to bring more damage on to ourselves.
Look at our soldiers who are coming back after killing. They suffer from severe brain damage. They leave their homes as loving husbands and loving fathers, and return monsters that turn violent on their families and sometimes kill their wives.
Another great big issue is that we all need to insist that more research be done to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorders not only in children who have been raped but for our soldiers.
Mothers have the ability to all come together and start protecting their children from their own family members if need be. I think early intervention is also very important.
If pedaphiles are molesting 100 times before they are caught, by that time they are probably beyond help.
If we deal with this problem early on, maybe we can nick it in the butt.
MomOffFive, you come accross as extremely wise, intelligent and very strong person. You also have so much power to demand that this problem be dealt with early on before pedaphiles are so far gone that they appear beyond help.
Early intervention for little children would also be extremely helpful before they endure many years of sexual assaults.
Mothers need to start making more of an effort in protecting their babies to avoid serious damage to their brains.
There is so much that we can do without involving the authorities if we practice early intervention ourselves. The pedaphile can be reached before he/she is beyong help and the children can also get help early on and prevent further trauma.
I know that it seems like an overwhelming problem but I truely believe we can do it. I have confidence in mothers. We all need to come together and support each other and be there for each other.
There are steps that we can take before the problem gets worst.
You are totally right on that children are not an important priority in our society. We all need to start making children our priority. We need to learn how to educate them about sexual abuse.
We can do it. I know we can. We must. This problem has gone on too long. How many more children have to die before we start protecting them?
Again, I am so so terribly sorry for all the pain and suffering you have gone through. I am so very proud of you that you managed to come out of it without hurting anyone. You are a wise and very strong woman. I pray that you will heal from all of your past pains. I pray that you will never have to kill anyone. You will cause yourself such terrible and horrible brain damage. You will live in hell here on earth. It isn't worth it. Killing is not for good people. I know you are a very caring and loving person. Please stay that way. Don't let anyone poison you or make you hurt anyone.
Take care and I'm so happy that I met you.
Let's all go and do something to make life better for our children. For all children of the world.
Have a good evening.
Whether or not you intended to make killing pedophiles sound ridiculous to the point of being funny, your comments definitely hit home.
I do agree, that a big part of pedophilia is that it is under-reported. Another part of that equation is that it is under-prosecuted, and under-punished when prosecuted. Yet another is that we, as a society don't seem to value our children enough to make child-rape and molestation a crime that keeps these criminals away from children.
When a person commits the acts of kidnapping and raping a child, and is then released into society with the same condition that they had prior to being incarcerated, it tantamount to releasing a rabid animal into society. Kenneth Parnell is an excellent example of that.
As for Ellie, what happened with her was very sad. Sad for her and her son. I have not feelings of sadness for Daniel Driver MHBIH. I do understand the sentiment behind her actions, and can certainly empathize. I doubt that I could show restraint in the same situation.
What percentage of females between the ages of 30 and 50 do you know who were raped or molested? I know quite a lot, actually. A cousin of my mother's was raped by her uncle, so were her sisters. The parents did nothing. "It would kill Grandma if she knew!" I wonder how many girls that scumbag raped or molested? Or boys? And I believe you're correct. It was something that was handed down. The same cousin, as an adult, her grandfather (the child molester/rapist's father) touched her breast, and made sexual comments. Her grandfather! I have heard many, many stories. The children grow up to be dysfunctional adults. Another cousin was raped by a step-father, from the time she was 9-years-old. Come on, her mom didn't know? When her mom found out, she sent her to live with her father's (also my) family, 4 years later. The guy did not serve time for raping her. I was sexually assaulted at 13 by a family friend. The same man raped his 10-year-old sister, who subsequently became a prostitute, and is now in and out of mental institutions. With regard to the last guy, his wife and some other family members threatened both me and his sister, and although the crimes were reported, they told so many lies to the investigators that the DA said it would be very traumatic to testify against the guy. He went to jail for some other thing, never served time for child rape. Including the rape of his 10-year-old sister, whose life was destroyed. And their whole family knew. They are the WORST kind of trash. And quite a few of them live right in town.
Maybe you wouldn't mind, or think that turning someone in would be sufficient. You can do all the turning in you want, but more often than not, a blind eye is turned, or the crime is minimized, with the perp doing little to no time, oftentimes pleaing it down. Turning someone in only works if the prosecutors and judges are prosecuting and convicting to the maximum penalty possible.
You know, I'd be happy to have opportunity to meet my friend the perp in a dark alley. Almost happened once. I heard, not long ago, that he is dying... of some communicable disease. May he live long and suffer. BTW, this guy is a serial offender, who raped his wife's best friend, family members, friends of the family, etc... Loved young girls, but didn't limit his proclivities to children.
There are millions of pedaphiles including in your own family. If you start solving problems killing people, there won't be anyone left.
Your own family members will be dead.
Sexual abuse and raping is allowed in families. If families stop tolerating it and reporting it then we can start killing them all.
MomOffFive, you need to start a campaign to tell everyone to report all of the pedaphiles in their families so they can be lined up against a wall and be executed. You can hold the machine gun.
But if this problem continues to be pushed under the rug, you won't have the pleasure of killing off this problem.
You kill one but there is millions more where that one came from? More are born every day. What are you going to do? Start killing new borns?
I remind you again that California is against the death penalty because only 13 people have been executed since 1976.
In June of last year, the Supreme Court ruled that child rapist do not qualify for the death penalty.
If you think you can change the world by killing, please start solving the problem in your own family since you know first hand who they are. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if those on the Suprement Court and in congress are also pedaphiles. If mothers don't protect their own children, how can you expect the court system to.
Please be our guest and start killing pedaphiles.
Ellie did nothing to better things. In what way did she help in preventing Sandra's death? She could have done much more to prevent Sandra's death if she hadn't wasted her life away in jail. Killing one pedaphile was nothing in comparison to the millions of pedaphiles in existence or that are going to be born.
So please encourage everyone especially mothers to report pedaphiles in their own families as soon as possible so you can execute them.
I'll say it again. California is against the death penalty. Only 13 people have been executed in California since 1976. In June of last year, the Supreme Court ruled that child rapist do not qualify for the death penalty.
You want to talk about inequitable justice? How about Steven Stayner's abductor and rapist? Kenneth Parnell. Arrested not too long ago after attempting to purchase two children in Oakland.
Kenneth Parnell raped and held captive two children. He robbed Steven of nearly half of his life. Who knows what role that trauma served in the forming of Carey?
Your post is so very sad that it brought me to tears. The truth is so very painful.
If you ever get the chance google "Franklin Credit Union Omaha". That was actually about much more than just pedophilia and murder but it gives you an idea how far things can be taken to quiet atrocities. No one was punished in that case except for the victims. It is important to understand what "your system" is capable of. It is just hard to wrap one's head around at times.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/3618362/detail.html
Too many people are so angry that the only thing they want to talk about is killing. That should concern you that they believe in killing as a way to solve their problems. What kind of people kill people? Could it be those who believe in solving problems with killing? California does not believe in the death penalty. Only 13 people have been executed since 1976.
Those on death row are only making lawyers and judges rich with appeals.
So now that we got that out of the way, what are we going to do to protect our children?
Police officers can't watch over every child and the court system is not there to solve our problems. The court system is for financial gain. The court system is about winning because the attorney who wins will get fame and a good reputation and more clients (more money for him).
There is no such thing as justice in the court system.
Judges and lawyers and prison workers are not eager to see anyone executed.
There is also a moratorium on California executions
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081122/A_NEWS/811220308
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090502/A_NEWS/905020321
There are killers out there that have done some very serious mutilations to other human beings' bodies many years ago and they are still alive in perison. From what I have heard, Sandra's body showed no signs of trauma as the cause of her death. If that is true, then her killer did not do as brutal attack of an attack as some of those on death row who are still alive many years after the killing.
In the meantime, what are we going to do to protect ourselves and our children? Are we going to sit around and call killers names and wish the death sentence on them? Are we going to sit round and wait for another child to get raped and killed?
Other people are working on changing the law to make it easier to execute people, but I don't see anyone rushing to do it.
John Walsh of America's Most Wanted found ways to deal with the killing of his own little son many years ago. For one, he is involved with an organization to find missing children and with America's Most Wanted. By the way, it was only this year that investigators discovered who killed his little boy many years ago.
Please understand that I am deeply sorry for Sandra's death and have cried many tears for her. Her death has had a big impact on me. I hope that her death was not in vain and that we take the opportunity to make changes in our live styles to protect children before they get severely hurt or get killed. I'm convinved that another child can easily get killed.
According to Dr. Phil, child molesters molest 100 times before they are caught. He says that most child molestations/rapes occur within families and most go unreported. Therefore, it appears that a pedaphile is not reported until he rapes a child that is not his own family.
Sex offenders generally have a compulsion which would not be deterred by much of anything. Even places like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Iran have this problem. It is not acknowledged in a closed society however. There are actually very wealthy persons from those countries who are known pedophiles- known to interpol and known in this country. They are free to do as they please and have the cooperation of Western Europe, the US, and many other countries. Hopefully someday this will change as their victims are known to be from several countries in particular.
My point is that this goes on in every sort of political system though not acknowledged. There have been cases in this country where no one was prosecuted or punished and later it was found that there was a possible link to a missing child(or children) case. The investigation into that was essentially halted also. I know of more than one case where this happened and the family of a missing child had to hire PI's just to keep the case alive. They could not get the investigation reopened no matter how hard they tried. Even the governer and senator had no impact. Children are not always priority even though we like to think otherwise. Getting legislation passed takes patience hard work but hopefully it will have an impact way beyond this case.
Thanks so much..........
If you didn't already hear the bad news:
Midsi Sanchez, the 16 yr old girl who was abducted when she was 8 in Vallejo was in a very serious car accident yesterday. When she heard about Sandra, she helped post flyers and it was written that she spent time with Sandra's mom, trying to be support to her and her family. We can all pray for her recovery. This poor kid has been through enough already...
Most children who have been raped have been raped by their own family members. If executions were carried out and everyone starts reporting their family members for raping, there would be many exutions every year. Fortunately for family members, in June of last year, the Supreme Court ruled that child rapists do not qualify for the death penalty.
If we are truly concerned about protecting all children, we need to start taking responsiblity and start reporting child sex abuse within our own family before they hurt other people's children.
You are correct that holdings in prior cases are applied to similar cases. If a lawyer wants to use this (or another) case holding (ruling/finding/recommendation), they can approach the court with their argument. Of course, there will likely be an opponent who will argue against the correctness of the original holding, and that it does not apply in the current case. I think that it will depend on what happens with appeal (to the case you cite). It's very early to analyze this now, since the case cited is still pending appeal.
“Local murder case sets statewide precedent. By Eric Laughlin | City editor | February 08, 2009 14:03 MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT.
Betty Marie Cloer
The 1971 Camer-on Park murder of 21-year-old Betty Marie Cloer led to the April 2008 conviction of Phillip Arthur Thompson in a Placerville courtroom. This month, the case also set a statewide legal precedent on the confidentiality of autopsy records.
In 2004 the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department - which had investigated Cloer’s nearly 4-decade-old homicide - refused to produce Cloer’s autopsy report to a Bay area Internet journalist who planned to write a book about the case.
The department argued, and a Superior Court judge ruled, that the report should be exempted from the Public Records Act because it was part of an investigation report, which is not subject to release.
The Web journalist and author, Kate Dixon, who maintains the Website newsmaking-news.com, argued that the public has a right to know the basics of how Cloer was killed. Dixon argued that autopsy reports aren’t investigation and only include basic cause of death information.
She actually won the right to see the report when she appealed the case to a state appeals court, but the Sheriff’s Department and El Dorado County Counsel still refused to turn the document over and pressed on for what they hoped would be a legal precedent. That’s what they got last week, when the same appeals court that had ruled in favor of Dixon ruled in favor of the county.
According to the ruling, an autopsy report can be exempted from the Public Records Act if it concerns a homicide with a “concrete and definite prospect” of prosecution.
“I think it’s very good for law enforcement and also good for the safety of the public,” said Chief Assistant County Counsel Ed Knapp, who handled the case.
Knapp said the court’s published ruling (published meaning the ruling sets a formal legal precedent and can be used in future argument), also resolves confusion among law enforcement agencies in the state’s 58 counties as to how to deal with these reports.
“Before every agency was handling it their own way,” Knapp said. “Sacramento County wasn’t releasing them because of HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act) laws, which wasn’t a valid argument because HIPPA laws don’t apply to someone who is no longer living.
“This ruling resolves the issue in a very real context.”
Knapp said the Thompson case is a perfect example of why the ruling is so fitting.
He pointed to how a key ring found near Cloer’s body, which was documented in the coroner’s report, ended up being a big piece of evidence in the case against Thompson.
In the 64-year-old Thompson’s murder trial, his ex-wife testified that he had owned a similar key ring at or around the time of the murder.
Knapp said that if information such as that had been released to the public, the ex-wife’s life could have been endangered, since she was the keeper of such powerful evidence.
Dixon disagreed.
“That’s not the kind of information that autopsy reports include,” she said. “They don’t just throw the whole kitchen sink in there. The report is only to include information such as how and when she died.”
Dixon said such information is key to the case and necessary to write her book.
“This is public information that should be shown to anyone who requests it,” she added.
Knapp said the ruling will affect only a small percentage of cases.
“Ninety percent of autopsy reports don’t relate to any kind of an investigation,” he said, “and those will continue to be made public.”
Dixon said she does not view this ruling as final. She plans to make an appeal to the California Supreme Court within the month.
E-mail Eric Laughlin at elaughlin@mtdemocrat.net or call (530) 344-5065.