The End of the Story

Case BackgroundPre-Trial: Updated: 12.04.09Trial Date: 10.18.2010SentencingSources

Melissa Huckaby, 28, of Tracy, California is charged with the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.

Sandra Cantu was reported missing on March 27, 2009 from the Mobile Home Park where she lived with her mother, grandparents and siblings. Sandra had asked her mother if she could go out to play with her friend at approximately 3 p.m. When Sandra failed to return home for dinner her mother became concerned and walked around the mobile home park to search for her. After not being able to locate her daughter she phoned police at 8 p.m.

Police, community volunteers and FBI agents tirelessly search for Sandra Cantu. The break in the case came on April 6, when farm workers began emptying an irrigation pond located approximately two miles from Sandra’s home. As the water level lowered workers saw a large container. Being aware of the search for the missing girl, they called police. Police took the container to an undisclosed location later in the day and when it was opened Sandra’s clothed body was inside what was later identified as a suitcase.

During the course of the investigation several search warrants were served on various homes within the mobile home park. Three males living in the community were taken in for questioning but all were released without being charged in connection with Sandra’s disappearance.

The last person known to have seen Sandra was Melissa Huckaby. She told authorities that although Sandra had come to her door to ask her daughter to play, she turned Sandra away saying her daughter had to pick up her toys. She told police Sandra left her home. After the container was found in the irrigation pond, Melissa made statements to reporters claiming a suitcase she owned had been stolen the day of Sandra’s disappearance. She also claimed a note had been left in her mail box inscribed with three words: cantu, suitcase, water, and the names of two streets. The word ’suitcase’ was misspelled. Police did not release a description of the suitcase found in the irrigation pond, however, Melissa described the suitcase that had allegedly been stolen from her residence to the reporter.

When police heard the interviews conducted in the press with Huckaby, they asked her to come into headquarters for further questioning. Huckaby drove herself to the police station and after five hours of questioning her police had enough information to charge Huckaby with kidnapping and murder.

Huckaby is the mother of a 5-year-old daughter and a former Sunday School teacher at her grandfather’s Baptist church. Police believe Sandra was murdered on the church property and she was murdered even before her disappearance was reported to police.

Pre-Trial 

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April 14, 2009: Arraignment

Melissa Huckaby was arraigned on the following charges:

1. One count of murder

Special circumstances

1. Rape with a foreign object
2. Lewd or lascivious conduct with a child under 14
3. Murder in the course of a kidnapping

The Special Circumstances charges makes this case Death Penalty eligible. The prosecutor has not yet decided if he will seek the Death Penalty.

Melissa Huckaby did not enter a plea at this hearing. She was assigned a Public Defender and the case was carried for another arraignment hearing to April 24.

April 17, 2009

One day after Sandra Cantu was laid to rest Melissa Huckaby’s public defender, Sam Behar, petitioned the court asking for permission to exhume Cantu’s body so the defense can conduct it’s own autopsy. The reason given is that Melissa needs to defend herself properly against the rape charges. The coroner indicated Sandra suffered “genital trauma” and the defense wants an expert they have called to examine Sandra’s body. The judge presented with the motion could not rule on it because he is not the judge assigned to the case. According to the media account the judge assigned to the case is on vacation. The defense wants the decision quickly decided because as the attorney put it:

He called the autopsy “crucial and material” to his client’s defense and asked the court to move quickly, saying Cantu’s body was deteriorating. ¹

There may be another issue with this case. The judge assigned to the case, Judge Terrence Van Oss, may have to recuse himself from the case due to a conflict of interest. Judge Van Oss was a witness for the prosecution in a previous murder case prosecuted by Tom Testa, a San Joaquin County deputy district attorney.

April 21, 2009

Information is being reported in the media that Melissa Huckaby may be linked to another child abduction in January of this year.

The child in question, an unnamed 7-year-old neighbor of Huckaby’s was allegedly taken away from the mobile home park without parental permission. The police were notified and the search began for the girl. She was located at a local park with Melissa Huckaby. The parents were notified the child was found, Huckaby returned the child to the parents and the police left. No charges were filed.

Several hours later the girl’s parents took her to the emergency room. It was found the girl had benzodiazepines in her blood stream. Police were called again; however, again, no charges were filed because a five hours had elapsed between the time Huckaby relinqueshed the child to her family and the trip to the emergency room. Authorities said it would be hard to prove that Huckaby dosed the child – anyone could have given her the drugs in that span of time.

When asked about this other child prior to her arrest, Melissa Huckaby’s reply was that she had permission to take the child to the park. Huckaby kept the child away from home for four hours.

This new information does not bode well for Huckaby’s defense. If Sandra Cantu’s toxicology reports come back positive for benzodiazepines, the prosecution may be able to prove a pattern of behavior.

Benzodiazepines are used for anxiety disorders, prior to dental procedures to produce a feeling of calm, and to produce a type of amnesia for the procedure much like noxious oxide. That drug class has also been used as a date rape drug:

Benzodiazepines have also been used as a “date rape” drug because they can markedly impair and even abolish functions that normally allow a person to resist or even want to resist sexual aggression or assault. In recent years, the detection and conviction of people involved in this has increased dramatically. The drug is usually added to alcohol-containing drinks or even soft drinks in powder or liquid forms and can be hard to taste. ²

A boost for the defense is if Melissa Huckaby was prescribed benzodiazepines and was abusing them, she could have experienced what is known as disinihibition. Sometimes people experiencing disinihibition will act out sexually as well as not make socially acceptable behavioral choices. There is evidence in her recent past of not being able to control her impulses, i.e., two shoplifting charges. She also has a history of having to file bankruptcy which could indicate an inability to control her impulse to spend. Also, Huckaby could claim no memory of the rape due to the intoxication from the benzodiazepines.

I am not looking for an excuse for the crimes she is accused of committing; I am just thinking about what the line of defense might be.

Judge Terrence Van Oss, originally assigned to hear this case, recused himself today. He did not give a reason for stepping down from the case. Judge Linda Lofthus will be presiding over the case on Friday when Huckaby is expected to enter a plea. Her attorney is also expected to ask the judge for a ruling on his request to exhume Sandra’s body in order to have an independent autopsy performed.

September 10, 2009

Melissa Huckaby had a brief court appearance today. San Joaquin County deputy district attorney Thomas Testa announced the people will seek the death penalty in the penalty phase of their case against Huckaby. Judge Lofthus read the criminal grand jury indictment against Huckaby that included charges of murder with three enhancements: kidnapping, rape with a foreign instrument and lewd and lascivious acts on a child. A second count charges Huckaby with a sex crime with a child 10 years or younger. Huckaby entered a plea of not guilty to the charges. She then asked to meet with the judge in a closed door meeting to discuss firing her assigned counsel, Deputy Public Defender Sam Behar. The judge declined the request. The defense has hired a change-of-venue expert from Chico State University. The next court date is scheduled for September 25. A trial date could be scheduled at that time, perhaps for March 2010.

December 4, 2009

Melissa Huckaby made an appearance in San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton this afternoon where the judge set her trial date as October 18, 2010. So far there has been no change of venue. Death penalty expert, Michael Burt, is requested a February hearing to suppress evidence and testimony before the case goes to trial.

Trial 

October 18, 2010

Sentence 

Source 

CA Endangered Missing: Sandra Cantu, Missing & Murdered Children, April 17, 2009.

Associated Press, Judge May not Hear Huckaby’s Arraignment, KSBW.com, April 17, 2009.

Sarah Netter, Was Alleged Drugging of 7-Year-Old a Precursor to Sandra Cantu’s Murder?, ABC.com, April 21, 2009.

Huckaby Linked to Earlier Drugging of Child, KTVU.com, April 21, 2009.

Trial Date Set in Cantu Slaying, KCRA, Last Accessed: December 4, 2009.

Date Set for Melissa Huckaby’s Murder Trial, CBS13.com, Last Accessed: December 4, 2009.

1. Judge May Not Hear Huckaby’s Arraignment, KSBW.com, Last Accessed: September 10, 2009. [↩]
2. Benzodiazepine Abuse, EMedicine Health.com, Last Accessed: September 10, 2009. [↩]