Joesph DeAngelo appeared before Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Sweet today, May 14th, at 8:30 PST. For the first time in a court appearance, DeAngelo was out of his wheelchair — clad in his jail-issue orange jumpsuit and appearing without handcuffs, he walked into a caged-in area of the courtroom on his own. He made an effort not to look in the direction of the full gallery during the hearing.
Due to a full docket and the early hour of the appearance, Sweet banned cameras from the courtroom.
The hearing was brief — the defense informed the judge that they had only just now received the list of items taken during the search of DeAngelo’s house last month during the execution of the search warrant. There had not been enough time for them to to review them and construct arguments to fight the motion filed by media companies to unseal the documents.
DeAngelo conferred with his public defender, Diane Howard, for a moment in whispered tones.
Judge Sweet granted a continuance to allow the defense time to prepare arguments against the unsealing of the affidavits, and then the hearing was adjourned.
Other than the continuance, no action was taken.
The next hearing is set for May 29th. At that time, a decision may be made on whether the arrest warrant or the search warrant will be unsealed, and the judge may decide on a motion made by the defense to block the media from covering the hearings.