July 12th, 2018: Hearing in Sacramento

DeAngelo returned to court on Thursday, July 12th, 2018, at 1:35 PM PST. Appearing again before Judge Michael Sweet, DeAngelo was shackled inside the courtroom holding area throughout the duration of the proceedings.

In the gallery, attending one of the Golden State Killer trial hearings for the first time, were:

• Debbi Domingo, daughter of murder victim Cheri Domingo
• Jane Carson-Sandler, the fifth canonical rape victim of the East Area Rapist / Golden State Killer
• Margaret Wardlow, the twenty-seventh victim of the East Area Rapist / Golden State Killer

Debbi Domingo wore a shirt depicting Cheri Domingo and Greg Sanchez (her mother’s boyfriend, killed the same night as Cheri Domingo), along with a jacket that said “Justice for all.” Carson-Sandler had a banner that read “Now we… have the power and control.” Neither woman got to see DeAngelo’s face, as he customarily does not turn to face the gallery.

The hearing was more of a progress report on where the defense and prosecution are at. The defense is still going over the material that the prosecution has provided them with, and in the meantime, asked the judge if media could be barred from the courtroom. Judge Sweet overruled the motion.

Future motions that might be submitted or discussed in the near future include a change of venue. As many of you know, DeAngelo is only charged with the Maggiore murders in the jurisdiction in which he’s thus far appeared. The Maggiore murders are a non-DNA case. A move to Orange County, Ventura County, or Santa Barbara County at some point is well within the realm of possibility.

The next scheduled court date in Sacramento is September 5th. We’ll let you know if another date is scheduled before it in another jurisdiction.