STOCKTON — The woman accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering an 8-year-old Tracy girl appeared in court this afternoon, but no trial date has been set as her defense awaits a second defense attorney with a wealth of experience in death penalty cases.

Melissa Chantel Huckaby, 28, was led into the courtroom at 12:45 p.m. today, the first of two hearings where San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Linda Lofthus planned to set a trial date.

Huckaby is charged with kidnapping, raping and murdering 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, who was found in a suitcase in a dairy lagoon north of Tracy in April.

District attorney spokesman Robert Himelblau said that because this is a death penalty case, Huckaby is allowed two defense attorneys.

Her second attorney — Michael Burt — was unavailable today and Huckaby’s public defender, Sam Behar, said he wouldn’t feel comfortable going forward without him.

Behar said Burt would be present for the Dec. 4 hearing and will “be able to provide enough information” to choose a trial date.

Himelblau said after the hearing that Burt, a San Francisco attorney, has participated in several of death penalty cases, including the defenses of Lyle Menendez and serial killers Richard Ramirez and Charles Ng.

Prosecutor Thomas Testa has previously said that he wants to move the case along quickly as possible because there are children involved whose memories might fade as time goes on. He said he was hoping to nail down a date today, since he has other cases going on with “special circumstances.”

“I don’t think the case is going any slower because of the media attention,” Himelblau said afterward.

Lofthus, after praising the work that Behar has done, also ruled to seal the grand jury transcripts involved with the case. She said the decision has been informal until now, but both sides agreed that sealing the documents would be the best choice. The information in the transcripts would endanger privacy rights of children involved, she said.

“I believe strongly in public access, but I have to ensure there’s a fair trial to both sides in this case,” Lofthus said.

Behar’s motions to appeal the decision by the grand jury to indict her and to determine the validity of some search warrants have also been sealed, Lofthus ruled. Himelblau said that these documents likely contain info from the grand jury transcript.

Testa also filed orders for return of property, regarding a computer from Conrad Sinclair, who lived in the same mobile home park as Huckaby, and items from Connie and Lane Lawless, Huckaby’s grandparents. Behar had no objection.

Lofthus said that there have been three incident reports at San Joaquin County Jail since her last appearance in court, but none of them interfered with her ability to show up. Huckaby had allegedly tried to kill herself earlier this year while in custody. Himelblau said that the incidents could’ve been something as harmless as not showering at the correct time.

Huckaby did not speak throughout the hearing. After Lofthus said that Behar has been working “more than 24/7,” on this case, Huckaby looked at her public defender and smiled.

Before she left, Behar said something to Huckaby, who quietly giggled. She turned and waved to two people in the crowd before she was led out of the courtroom at about 1:05 p.m.

Contact Tracy Press reporter Justin Lafferty at 830-4269 or jlafferty@tracypress.com.