DeLand, FL – The Deltona man charged with the murders of his wife and 2 step-kids backs away from his request for a jury to hear his defense as soon as possible.
During a short hearing at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand on Friday morning, Luis Toledo told Volusia County Judge Raul Zambrano that he’s withdrawing his demand for a speedy trial after having his legal team file that request.
Toledo’s attorneys asked the judge to hold another hearing in the future that may lead to a trial date. The date for the next hearing is February 29th.
Zambrano also noted during the hearing that he had to order deputies to bring Toledo to the courtroom by force after he refused to come. Toledo noted in open court that he came voluntarily.
The 8:30 AM hearing was delayed for a few minutes as the courtroom was cleared by bailiffs while Toledo was holding a conference with his attorneys out of the courtroom.
Zambrano ruled last month in favor of the prosecution’s request to delay the trial until Florida legislators figure out what to do about the state’s death penalty process. It was slated to begin on January 19th in St. Augustine after Zambrano decided to move the trial from Volusia County due to heavy media coverage.
That ruling came after the United States Supreme Court ruled in the Hurst v. Florida case that Florida’s death penalty process was unconstitutional because it required a simple majority of a 12-person jury to decide if the death penalty should be applied.
On Thursday, the Florida House approved a bill that says at least 10 out of 12 jurors have to agree to a death sentence or else the defendant automatically gets life without parole. The state Senate is expected to consider the bill sometime next week.
Toledo’s defense team made a push during the January 15th hearing to have the death penalty removed as an option, but Zambrano denied that request.
The 33-year-old Toledo is facing 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and 1 count of 2nd-degree murder in the October 2013 disappearances of his wife and 2 step-kids. Their bodies haven’t been recovered but all 3 are presumed dead.
Zambrano has yet to rule on a motion from prosecutors looking to introduce evidence of a Lake Mary domestic violence incident that took place between Toledo and 29-year-old Yessenia Suarez the day before she and her kids – 9-year-old Thalia Otto and 8-year-old Michael Otto – were reported missing from the Covent Gardens Drive home they shared with Toledo.
Investigators believe Toledo and his wife got into an argument over her cheating on him with a co-worker just before he killed her and the kids.
Toledo has entered not guilty pleas in all 3 presumed murders. Their bodies have never been found despite extensive search efforts by authorities and Suarez’s family.
Zambrano has already ruled on several other motions related to this case, including denying prosecutors the option to tell the jury about Toledo’s alleged ties to the Latin Kings gang.
Copyright 2016 Southern Stone Communications.