SAN ANGELO, TX – This afternoon, 26-year-old Isidro Delacruz was back in Judge Ben Woodward’s 119th District Court.
The purpose of today’s hearing was for Child Protective Services to provide an update on the records requested by the court, and to discuss the final details leading to the January 4, 2017 trial set at the previous hearing in August.
Delacruz faces capital murder charges of 5-year-old Niaya Villegas from September 2014. If convicted, he also faces the death penalty. For more stories click here, here and here
To begin, Amy Hennington Luhrs, representing Child Protective Services, provided an update on the request for records the court has been sifting through. Previously, about 9,000 records were presented.
Thus, Luhrs gave Judge Woodward a list of agencies that have provided interview records and the agencies that do not have records on file. According to Luhrs, some centers do not keep records after they turn them over to law enforcement.
There are also some centers still needing to provide records to the court.
As they discussed records, Delacruz sat in between in his two defense attorneys, looking down at his hands.
Additionally, Luhrs provided two CDs to Judge Woodward with recorded interviews.
“All right, so I need to review these two records to see if they have anything to do with this case,” said Judge Woodward to Luhrs.
Luhrs also told Woodward a third disc is in the works.
District Attorney Allison Palmer said thus far she’s been satisfied with the contact received regarding the records.
A question that came up, however, is how both the Defense and State will access the new CD information, so Woodward worked that out to both parties’ satisfaction. Woodward said he does not want a lot of copies of the CDs circulating; therefore, electronic access for both the State and Defense would be established.
“I’m trusting you all to use this wisely,” Judge Woodward said.
On Oct. 31, Judge Woodward said he is going to hold another hearing, which will be the deadline for agencies to release records on the Delacruz case. These agencies must also show cause why certain records should not be released if necessary.
Judge Woodward then addressed the January 4, 2017 trial date, which was set previously.
“I need a general idea and outline on jury selection,” said Woodward. “That changed when we changed the trial date. How much time do you think you need?
One of Delacruz’s defense attorneys said two weeks, or 12 days, should be sufficient to get questionnaires completed.
“The more we have and go through ahead of time, that might save time,” he said.
Palmer also suggested beginning jury selection ahead of time, and bringing in three jurors in the morning and afternoon.
“We need room,” Palmer said in regards to the time frame for jury selection.
Overall, all agreed the initial jury pool panel should consist of 350 – 400 people.
Additionally, Judge Woodward noted that the Tom Green County Courthouse will begin reconstruction around that time, so he will be visiting with the County Commissioner’s Court to get City Hall designated as a court.
“Judge Floyd has a nice courtroom conducive to this trial,” said Judge Woodward.
In addition to another hearing on Oct. 31, a pre-trial in the Delacruz case will be held on Nov. 21.
“Let’s try to take care of as many motions as possible, so the final pre-trial can be for final glitches or issues,” Judge Woodward said to both the Palmer and the Defense.
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