April 14, 2008 — A status hearing Monday morning for Daniel Castillo, charged last year with murdering 12-year-old La'Quina Hennis, was continued until Friday by V.I. Superior Court Judge Brenda Hollar.
This was not an option that pleased Hollar. She made the continuance in the high-profile case when no agreeable date for jury selection and trial could be determined after more than an hour's discussion back and forth between attorneys on both sides.
Assistant Attorneys General Kelly Evans and Jesse Bethel, representing the government, appeared in person; public defender Harold Willocks participated by speaker phone from St. Croix. The problem centered on when FBI forensic testing results might be expected, and how long it might take Willocks' expert to examine them.
Castillo is accused of killing Hennis and stuffing her body in a plastic bin at his Sugar Estate residence. In February, Hollar ruled his confession acceptable in court. (See "Judge Upholds Confession by Hennis Murder Suspect.")
Hollar was anxious to set dates for jury selection. She explained the problems in empaneling a jury for a trial of this magnitude: "The jurors must be able to be sequestered overnight from three to five days." A questionnaire sent earlier to 120 jurors, she said, turned up only 50 who were able to be sequestered.
The judge would have to recall jurors from a prior panel to fill the courtroom with her goal of 100 to 120 potential jurors, she said.
"Because of the publicity, we need an entire panoply of jurors to ensure a fair trial," Hollar said.
The jurors would have to "have their bags packed," she said. They would be escorted from the courtroom by marshals who would "take them home to pick up their bags and deliver them to a hotel, not stopping for anything else."
The evidence was sent to an FBI lab in the States last May, Evans said. That evidence included hair and blood samples for DNA testing. Hollar expressed dismay that the results had not yet been received.
"I want to set this date in granite," Hollar said more than once. "The trial has to go forward."
She first suggested a date of June 2, later moving it up one week to June 9.
After listening to the attorneys discuss dates and potential problems with their own schedules and dates for the FBI results, Hollar ran her hands through her hair, leaned back and said, "I need to know whether to bring my blood-pressure pills."
The judge said she needed a "drop dead" date for the proceedings. "Drop dead" is a legal term indicating a court order that sets the last date an event must take place, or otherwise certain consequences will automatically follow.
While Willocks said his expert might need extra time to examine the FBI results or test on his own, Evans and Bethel made clear their case was not dependent on the results.
"The government's case can go forward without the test results," Bethel said.
It was decided that the prosecutors would ask the FBI lab to have the results to the territory by May 16, which would give Willocks' expert three weeks to examine the results before a June 9 jury-selection date.
Willocks and Bethel set up a Thursday appointment to consult before Friday's 9 a.m. pre-trial hearing to determine the dates.
Hollar cautioned the attorneys about the Virgin Islands' relationship with the FBI: "I don't want the FBI to think we are jerking them around. They are doing us a favor. Changing dates gets them upset."
Castillo sat through the proceedings stoically, with an occasional yawn.
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