Quick Take
A Santa Cruz judge has postponed the long-delayed murder trial of Leif Ames to Dec. 15. Family members present at a Tuesday hearing told the judge they've waited too long for a trial.
A Santa Cruz judge has once again postponed the start of a murder trial against Leif Ames, who has been out on bail for years awaiting trial on charges he stabbed his best friend in March 2020, even as the victim’s family begged for a trial date.
“Your honor, no more delays, no more excuses,” Otilia Cross, wife of Hubert Cross, who was stabbed 23 times, told the judge. “We have carried this pain long enough.”
During a hearing Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Stephen Siegel listened to arguments for and against postponing the trial again, before agreeing to delay it to Dec. 15. The case was originally scheduled to go to trial in March 2022 and, most recently, was scheduled to go before a jury on Oct. 20.
Ames has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Following several complicated legal decisions, Ames has spent more than half of the time since his 2020 arrest out of pre-trial custody, despite prosecutors’ repeated attempts to revoke his bail.
Prosecutors previously told Lookout they have done everything they could to keep him in custody, describing him as “a danger to society.”
Ames’ defense attorney, Jamyrson Pittori, requested postponing the trial to January so she could have time to work on a different case, a double homicide from 2021, with a trial set to begin this month in Santa Clara County. Additionally, Pittori hired a new expert who told her it would take four weeks to complete a new report.
Prosecutor Kristal Salcido argued against the delay, reminding the judge that Pittori had been assigned to the case since February. Ames has had four different attorneys, and each time the new lawyer requested time to catch up on the case.
Tuesday’s hearing was originally scheduled for last Wednesday but Siegel and Pittori were absent, leading Salcido to request delaying the hearing until Siegel returned. The visiting judge, Gregory Syren, granted the request, as well as a request from Hubert’s widow, Otilia Cross, who has attended every court date, to read a statement.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Salcido told the judge that Otilia Cross and Hubert’s sister, Rachel Cross, were present and wanted Siegel to hear their statements.
Looking directly at the Cross family and their supporters, Pittori objected, saying that allowing relatives to read statements before the trial was a violation of Ames’ due process rights.
Siegel allowed Cross’ wife and sister to read their statements.
Otilia Cross told the judge that it has been Hubert’s family living with the consequences of his murder all these years, and not Ames. She said last week’s hearing was the sixth trial readiness hearing and asked that they finally have a trial date.
Rachel Cross read her statement via Zoom. She described waking from a dream a few weeks ago in which her brother told her he was dying of cancer.
“As my mind cleared, I had the unique experience of grasping that my reality was even more horrifying,” she said. “My brother wasn’t dying from a terrible disease. My brother is already dead. My brother was murdered. My brother was murdered, and his supposed friend, who repeatedly plunged the knife into him, is still walking around free.”
The trial is set for Dec. 15, with a trial readiness hearing on Dec. 3 at Santa Cruz Superior Court.
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