Sandra Cantu #4 4/27/09 -

[JessStar]

Here's the amended complaint.

Jess-
Don't you find it out no false imprisonment charges on Jane Doe? I admit kidnapping might be a stretch, but given the drugging and lack of permission?

Lastly, these are ammended to the original charges, indicating they were alleged "in the commission" of original counts and not filed seperately. To date, Huckaby is NOT charged with drugging Sandra, so I am very confused.

Plowman was arrested on 3/3 as per my article, how did they make the connection to him and how is it consistent with the commission to include it with the current complaint? Why drug a dude?

If I were Johnny Huckaby I would file ex parte and get that kid immediately and make sure she is examined thoroughly.
B

Good afternoon Monkeys!  What a twist, that's what I say.  Here's my take on Blink's questions.  First, false imprisonment of Jane Doe.  At this point, LE probably has insufficient evidence to make the charge and withstand an arraignment on it.  The evidence (at least to the extent we know it) is the typical "he said she said."  MH says I had permission, Mom says no you didn't, I'm not sure what GM says, but her credibility would be questionable.  They'd need stronger evidence to support a charge.  Second, they really don't need it.  Due to the gravity of the other offenses, they don't need to complicate their case with a false imprisonment charge, which contains separate and independent elements and probably doesn't add much in the way of punishment.

Regarding the relationship of the new charges to the old charges, you almost need a flow chart to follow them!   Let me give this a shot.

Count 1 contains the murder, kidnapping, lewdness, and rape charges against MH.  The way MH has been charged, the K, L, and R charges are special circumstances to the murder charge.

Count 2 and 3 contain the child endangerment charge and the furnishing an unlawful substance charge for the January incident.

Count 4 contains the furnishing an unlawful substance charge for the drugging of Daniel Plowman. 

The way the complaint is written, all charges flow back to Count 1.

I believe there are 3 principal reasons why the complaint was written this way.  First, to prevent merger.  The prosecution needs to let the court and the defense know that all charges are separate charges relating to separate events so that one doesn't "merge" into the other.  Second, to prevent severance.  If the charges were entirely separate and were not connected, the defense would file a motion to sever them, and MH would be entitled to three separate trials.  Third, it makes the admission of prior bad acts evidence a slam dunk because the acts are no longer "prior."  They are part of the same criminal course of conduct.

Again, I would not read much into the fact that MH hasn't been charged with drugging or poisoning Sandra.  For tactical and strategic reasons, they don't need to go there just yet.  Why?  Because likely for tactical and strategic reasons, the prosecution has not yet disclosed the cause of death.  Trust me . . . they're linked.

Now, let me interject this little tidbit as food for thought.  The speculation all along has been that Sandra was the victim of a sex crime gone bad.  That is, the speculation was that Sandra was drugged, raped, and then murdered.  But if you think about it, we really don't have the evidence to conclude that the crimes were necessarily committed in that order now, do we?  An interesting conundrum to say the least.  Looking at all the circumstances as we know them, we have (a) a 7 year old girl that was drugged in January by MH that, following a medical examination, showed no signs of being abused;  (b) an adult male that was drugged by MH that certainly wasn't abused;  (c) an 8 year old girl that, assuming she was drugged, wound up deceased with signs of having been sexually abused, (d) a complaint that reads like a criminal enterprise and (e) an undisclosed motive.  Hmmm . . .

[JessStar]

1 hour till game time. . .

[Dolce]

A CALL TO MONKEY ACTION - AMBER DUBOIS

Please help raise awareness for this missing teen who’s story has never been told as others have.  Please help give Amber the chance to come home.  I have made it so easy for you to shoot an email over to Greta and Nancy.  Also, links to post and send comments.  Please take a moment to do this for her family who are active Monkeys.
TIA

SEND A COMMENT:

Nancy Grace:
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?81

America’s Most Wanted:
http://www.amw.com/contact%5Fus/

Greta:
http://gretawire.foxnews.com/2009/05/22/open-thread-and-a-question/#comments


SEND AN EMAIL: (Simply copy and paste into your “To” section of email)

TO:

nancy.grace@turner.com; viewerservices@foxnews.com

-----------

I am a faithfull long time viewer of your show.  I would like to call to your attention the case of Amber DuBois is a beautiful 13 y/o girl who went missing in Escondido, CA.
I want to hear more about this case.  I want to see her featured as a missing person.  This childs disappearance could happen to any family and it is scary!  Please research and air her story.

Regards,

[no rose colored glasses]

1 hour till game time. . .

Thanks, and also for the above post, I'm not quite grasping what you wrote, because I'm not that smart to understand all this, but I think I have an idea where this is going.

[Dolce]

   Monkeys and Lurkers and Guests...it is not enough to sit here and read and post all day long if you are not willing to do something as simple as sending an email or post a comment requesting that media attention be brought to these cases.  It takes only a moment of your time to help save a childs entire life. 
http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=4583.msg816870#msg816870

[Blink34]

O yes you are No Rose, Ive seen it in action.

Thanks Jess for the explanantion.

I think they have built a tremendous amount of leeway and makes me think again their are aspects of this case that are ongoing. For instance, WHERE did the alleged drugging of Plowman take place? Not in there, just the date.
B

[Blink34]

Did I mention my beloved Dolce is pregnant with twins and a wee high strung?

She was talking to the passive monkeys, not the monkeyadvocates, lol.
B

[JessStar]

O yes you are No Rose, Ive seen it in action.

Thanks Jess for the explanantion.

I think they have built a tremendous amount of leeway and makes me think again their are aspects of this case that are ongoing. For instance, WHERE did the alleged drugging of Plowman take place? Not in there, just the date.
B

AGREED. 

[Dolce]

Did I mention my beloved Dolce is pregnant with twins and a wee high strung?

She was talking to the passive monkeys, not the monkeyadvocates, lol.
B

 

[JessStar]

1 hour till game time. . .

Thanks, and also for the above post, I'm not quite grasping what you wrote, because I'm not that smart to understand all this, but I think I have an idea where this is going.

Yes you are, Rose.  You are plenty smart.  If I were to boil it down to a few words, I would say "All a part of the same big thing."

[cece]

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=6826737

(snipped):

Any case involving Miss Huckaby was reviewed. There were several cases that were reviewed recently and the district attorney believes they have sufficient cause to add additional charges this afternoon at her arraignment," said Sgt. Tony Sheneman, Tracy police.
ABC7 has learned that the adult who Huckaby allegedly poisoned is Daniel Plowman, a former boyfriend of Huckaby's. On March 3rd, Plowman went to a Tracy towing yard to retrieve his vehicle. Employees thought he looked unfit to drive and called police, who arrested Plowman for being under the influence of some kind of tranquilizer.
Later, Plowman would tell police that Huckaby is the one who must have slipped him some kind of muscle relaxer. A few weeks earlier, The 7-year-old girl had returned from an afternoon in Huckaby's care in an altered state. Hospital tests found her under the influence of a tranquilizer. Back at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, reaction to the new developments included the possibility of conspiracy.
"It's just amazing what she was doing here and nobody knew about it. It's hard to believe that nobody knew something," said Walter Reed, mobile home park resident.
One man, who only wanted to be identified as Matt, says he's seen enough evidence to return his verdict.
"So why haven't they killed her already? There is something wrong with our judicial system," said Matt.
ABC7 NEWS legal analyst Dean Johnson said this new information is very important because it shows a common plan by Huckaby, and if proven, it could come into play in the death penalty phase of her trial..

[no rose colored glasses]

O yes you are No Rose, Ive seen it in action.

Thanks Jess for the explanantion.

I think they have built a tremendous amount of leeway and makes me think again their are aspects of this case that are ongoing. For instance, WHERE did the alleged drugging of Plowman take place? Not in there, just the date.
B

Thanks, I just have trouble with all the legal aspects, not quite understanding all. But I'm here to the end for some of the very special little victims, that stole a piece of my heart.

[no rose colored glasses]

1 hour till game time. . .

Thanks, and also for the above post, I'm not quite grasping what you wrote, because I'm not that smart to understand all this, but I think I have an idea where this is going.

Yes you are, Rose.  You are plenty smart.  If I were to boil it down to a few words, I would say "All a part of the same big thing."

Thanks, that's what I need, spelled out simply, I now understand.

[no rose colored glasses]

Thanks cece for that article. I hate to even imagine how many other people Melissa did this to 

[cece]

Thanks cece for that article. I hate to even imagine how many other people Melissa did this to 

You're welcome no rose 
I agree.  Sometimes, what we don't know can be worse than what we do know.

I guess Daniel Plowman claims to be a former boyfriend.

[JessStar]

1 hour till game time. . .

Thanks, and also for the above post, I'm not quite grasping what you wrote, because I'm not that smart to understand all this, but I think I have an idea where this is going.

Yes you are, Rose.  You are plenty smart.  If I were to boil it down to a few words, I would say "All a part of the same big thing."

Thanks, that's what I need, spelled out simply, I now understand.


My post said another way:  "ABC7 NEWS legal analyst Dean Johnson said this new information is very important because it shows a common plan by Huckaby, and if proven, it could come into play in the death penalty phase of her trial."

[JessStar]

NO PLEA ENTERED-MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR 6/12

In light of the events of the day, no surprises here:

Huckaby Faces New Charges; No Plea Entered
Posted By: Sharon Ito Posted By: C. Johnson     

STOCKTON, CA (AP) -- The Tracy woman charged with the killing of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu appeared in San Joaquin County Superior Court Friday for further arraignment.

Prosecutors filed additional charges against Melissa Huckaby alleging that she tried to poison two people. She was previously charged with the kidnapping, rape and murder of Cantu.

According to court records filed Thursday, prosecutors say Huckaby gave what they termed "a harmful substance" to a 7-year-old girl in January and an adult man in March. The type of substance was not revealed in the complaint.

The girl has since recovered. The man has not been located.

During Friday's 6-minute hearing, Huckably appeared composed and even smiled a few times at Judge Linda Loftus and public defender Sam Behar who is representing her. No cameras were allowed in the courtroom or Stockton courthouse.

Behar said his client would not be entering a plea to the charges at this time because he needed more time to review more than 1,000 pages of discovery documents and evidence in the case.

Loftus set June 12 for further arraignment.

Both Cantu's and Huckaby's families were at the hearing.


http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=59762&catid=2

[Blink34]

I want to know who from Huckaby's family was there-

Not surprised, the surprise will be when the actually stop piling on charges to this case, sadly.

B

To No Rose- yes, you are and that is the most important role anyone can play, to be there for them until the end of the case my friend.

[no rose colored glasses]

I want to know who from Huckaby's family was there-

Not surprised, the surprise will be when the actually stop piling on charges to this case, sadly.

B

To No Rose- yes, you are and that is the most important role anyone can play, to be there for them until the end of the case my friend.

Thanks, how many times can a defendent go into the courtroom and not make a plea?  Maybe the June 12th arraignment she will finally enter a plea.

[Tracygirl]

Ok so I am a little on the sleepy side today. I do not follow, she drugged a girl in January, sexual abuse. She drugged her boyfriend, no abuse, she raped and killed sandra?

Not following, please