Sandra's Body Won't Be Exhumed
Defense drops request to examine 8-year-old's body; judge issues gag order.
April 21, 2009— -- Defense attorneys for the woman accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering 8-year-old Sandra Cantu reportedly dropped their request today to have the Tracy, Calif., girl's body exhumed.
Public defender Peter Fox told the San Francisco Chronicle that the deputy public defender handling the case was told today by the county's chief medical examiner "the relevant samples" for the defense to conduct independent tests to determine whether the girl had been raped "were preserved" and were not interred with the girl's body in a mausoleum.
"It will not be necessary to disturb the child's remains," Fox told the Chronicle. "From a human point of view, certainly it's nice not to have to do that."
A court was scheduled to hold a hearing on the request Thursday, just days after Sandra was laid to rest -- the latest twist in the case against her accused killer -- a request to exhume the second-grader's body.
Sandra's private funeral was held last Wednesday. One day later, the request was filed to exhume her body so the defense for accused killer Melissa Huckaby would have an opportunity to conduct its own autopsy.
Huckaby's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Samuel Behar, professed to have no knowledge of the case when contacted by ABCNews.com, but a court document filed by Behar Thursday indicated the request was based on the deputy district attorney's belief that Sandra had suffered "genital trauma consistent with forcible penetration."
Also today, San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge LindaLofthus issued a gag order prohibiting anyone involved with the case from publicly discussing it.
Multiple Charges Against Huckaby
In addition to murder, Huckaby has been charged with the special circumstances of kidnapping, lewd and lavicious acts with a child and rape with a foreign object.
In the court document requesting the exhumation, Behar said the defense needed to examine the alleged trauma so Huckaby would be able to defend herself. He also requested the exhumation take place quickly, alleging that deterioration would cause Sandra's body to have "progressively diminishing value."
