Preliminary hearing continued for human trafficking case

Over the objection of the prosecution, two Sacramento County men charged in a suspected human trafficking case had their preliminary hearing pushed back more than a month.

Majestic C. Boyd, 40, of Sacramento and Eric G. Walker, 29, of Elk Grove were arrested July 27 after a victim who allegedly had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted escaped captivity and told a bystander to call 911. Both men were arrested in the area of the 900 block of Gray Avenue, Yuba City.

Boyd was charged with kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping for rape, human trafficking to obtain forced labor, and human trafficking for sex. Walker was charged with the same four counts along with rape of an unconscious victim, rape by force, and oral copulation by force.

Both defendants appeared in Sutter County Superior Court Friday via video conference for what was scheduled to be their preliminary hearing. Boyd’s attorney, Norman Hansen, asked Judge Susan Green to continue the hearing four weeks. Hansen said because of the severity of the charges against Boyd he wanted more time to prepare for the hearing and that additional discovery, and surveillance video tapes from the scene of the alleged crime needed to be reviewed. In addition, Hansen said he would want his client sitting next to him for the preliminary hearing, but because Boyd and Walker were recently booked into the jail, they were still in quarantine.

“I don’t think I can do a good job today with these circumstances,” Hansen said.

Walker’s attorney,

Philippa Lauben, echoed Hansen’s argument and said even if her client was brought into the courtroom wearing personal protective equipment it would be difficult to communicate with him for the purposes of the preliminary hearing.

Sutter County Deputy District Attorney Diego Heimlich said the victim also has a right to a speedy preliminary hearing the same as the defendants. He objected to pushing the hearing to another date because the memories of witnesses fade over time and that all his witnesses were in court and may not be available later on.

“It is in the interest of justice to have a speedy preliminary hearing in this case,” Heimlich said.

He said for the purposes of a preliminary hearing where the burden of proof is much lower than for a jury trial, not having all the evidence is not a valid reason to continue to another day.

Green granted the request to reschedule the hearing and set it for Sept. 10 at 9 a.m. A pre-hearing conference is scheduled for Sept. 9 at 1:30 p.m.

The victim and a civilian witness were in court on Friday and Green ordered both of them to be in court on Sept. 10 for the preliminary hearing. On that date, Boyd and Walker will be personally present in court and Green will rule whether there is enough evidence for the case against them to go to trial.

Boyd remains in Sutter County Jail on $500,000 bail and Walker is being held on $750,000 bail.