McDaniel's Lawyer Recaps Steps in the Giddings Murder Case
Amber Jones
Story Created:
Jun 26, 2012 at 6:05 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jun 29, 2012 at 6:32 PM EDT
Most of the evidence in the murder of Lauren Giddings in June of last year pointed in the direction of one man that is believed to be her killer.
The process to Stephen McDaniel’s trial has been long and the road only gets longer.
One of McDaniel’s lawyers, Frank Houge, takes a look at that process. "After he was arrested on the warrant for murder, which was August 3, 2011, later that month he had a commitment hearing or preliminary hearing. They held that hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to bind the warrant or send the warrant over to the Superior Court...and they did.” says Houge.
The case went quiet for a few months, but in November the grand jury returned an indictment against Stephen for murder. "The grand jury's role is to give the district attorney permission to prosecute somebody in court." Houge adds.
The D.A.'s office began to prepare for the case and in December of 2011 made their goals clear. Houge says, "The district attorney filed a notice of his intent to seek the death penalty."
After several appearances in court, a bond was set. "We can back in April for our motion of bond." says Houge.
On April 3, 2012 a $850,000 bond was set for McDaniel, One his defense team says his family could never afford. That's why they came back for a second bail hearing.
The request for a lower bond was denied again just last week. Stephen's lawyer will continue to research until August 31,2012 or the time may be extended a little longer to prepare motions to be filed and responded to by the state before more hearings begin.
A date for trail in this case has not yet been set.
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