Edward James Munoz”s on-again, off-again murder trial, postponed on 12 occasions, has been scheduled for a 13th time for Tuesday, Aug. 1 in Lake County Superior Court.
Munoz, 25, is accused of the savage murder in March 2002 of Leigh Leister, a 26-year-old single mother who died in her Clearlake apartment. Leister, who may have been a drug dealer, was stabbed several times and her throat was slit twice.
If found guilty of killing her, Munoz could face the death penalty, or life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has pleaded not guilty. But his date with justice has proved to be elusive as a parade of lawyers, who, after assuming the role of counsel for Munoz, didn”t remain on the case. The attorneys have been granted delays because they were involved in other cases or weren”t ready. They have resigned or, as in one case, been dismissed by Munoz.
Lake County Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who has been the prosecutor in the case since charges were first filed against Munoz, said he can only hope that the trial will go forward in August. “We don”t expect the trial not to begin,” Hinchcliff said.
Contact John Lindblom at jwordsmith@mchsi.com.
