Multiple Capital Murders Slow Down Wheels of Justice in San Angelo

SAN ANGELO, TX – In a Pre-Trial hearing for Fernando Lavaris, Jr., 30, held this morning in Judge Barbara Walther's 51st District Courtroom. Lavaris faces Capital Murder of then 69-year-old William Valdez during a theft attempt in August of 2015. More information on that story can be found here, here, and here. State and defense attorneys assigned to the case used the Pre-Trial to finally set an official Jury Trial date, which is set to begin January 22, 2018. This date came amidst a bit of conflict. One of the major conflicts that pushed the trial date back is the Isidrio Delacruz Capital Murder trial.

Judge Walther began the hearing by asking if the state and defense council had determined a date where both could commence trial proceedings. District Attorney Allison Palmer stated both parties had agreed to begin in late April. Walther, however, explained that the court would not be available during that time, and the earliest she had available was on May 22.

The defense attorneys’ demeanor and reaction, however, suggested they would not be ready for that date because they were waiting for an expert witness to be available. The judge questioned why that was an issue if they "were going to be ready in April.” The attorneys explained that the availability of their expert witness and the testing they were going to conduct on the evidence might require more time.

Judge Walther made it very clear that she was not willing to “waste the court’s time” by scheduling for a trial that would have to be pushed back. She wanted to ensure any pre-trial motions and matters were addressed fully before the trial began.  

Nonetheless, Walther decided to push the trial back to next year because of the time conflict with the Isidrio Delacruz case, who is also on trial for Capital Murder of a 5-year-old girl. She went on to explain that she and Judge Ben Woodward had talked “extensively” regarding the best way to schedule the trials while ensuring other cases were tried in a timely manner. Palmer will be prosecuting both cases and the judge considered the possible overlap between the trials to be a problem. The State emphasized this is why they had suggested an earlier date, to ensure that the cases did not overlap. Delacruz’s trial proceedings are set to begin July 31. It was also impossible for the defense attorneys to begin Lavaris’ trial after Delacruz because they will be in trial in another county.

After hearing the defense's position and contemplating the possible delays that could arise in the future, Judge Walther initially set the date to January 8, 2018. The defense attorneys stated they should be concluding their October trial by that time.

Palmer then asked for an even later day in January because she said had already “spent one Christmas away from her family to prepare them for a trial that had not taken place” and was not willing to put them through that situation once again (Palmer was referring to the Delacruz case that was once again postponed). Judge Walther agreed with Palmer and set the new date for January 22.

In addition to the Jury Trial set date, a series of Pre-Trials were also set for April 5, June 7, August 17, October 12 and Jan 3^. The defense will also be presenting a motion soon that will allow them to have any physical evidence tested by a third-party lab. Judge Walther asked if the state had any objection. Palmer said the State's only concern has to do with the accreditation of the lab. A written motion would allow the District Attorney’s office to provide law enforcement the details of what steps they had to take to ensure the evidence was handed over without incident.