RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — The court-appointed lawyers for Mercedes Carrera and Jason Whitney requested this morning another extension of the date for their pre-trial hearing — a proceeding necessary to begin the road to the actual trial — which was supposed to take place today.
"We continue to prepare for the trial," San Bernardino County Public Defender Joshua Castro told XBIZ after today's hearing. "Our priority is winning the trial, and that's why we asked for more time."
Today's pre-trial hearing was postponed to February 14, 2020. Carrera and Whitney were dragged from their home on February 1, 2019 during a raid by the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department investigation accusations of child abuse.
For XBIZ's in-depth review of the original accusations and Carrera's first interview from prison, click here.
The couple was arraigned back in February on a variety of sexual molestation of a minor charges, plus guns and drugs charges.
The police then issued an unusual press release outing Carrera as a sex worker and misidentifying Whitney, who had only done very occasional behind the camera work in the adult industry, as another director.
The press release also stated that "a search of the residence was conducted, and detectives located a large amount of evidence corroborating the victim’s statement. Additionally, detectives located methamphetamine and two loaded handguns in the home."
At the preliminary hearing, the officer in charge testified that the guns, for which the couple had permits, were in fact not loaded.
Both the guns and drugs charges were dropped after the preliminary hearing.
The police statement also claimed that "detectives believe there may be additional victims and are releasing the booking photos of each suspect.” No evidence has been offered by the state of the police as to the existence of multiple victims.
The alleged victim was later identified by Carrera and by the District Attorney as Carrera's daughter from a previous relationship. It was established also that Carrera and the child's father were estranged over custody issues at the time of the allegations, which were made by the child in the presence of her father and a male police officer from the local precinct in Twin Peaks, Calif.
There were no social workers or child psychologists present during the interview with Carreras' daughter, a tape of which was played by the San Bernardino County District Attorney prosecuting the case, Brieann Durose.
D.A. Durose has not replied to repeated attempts by XBIZ to contact her about the case.
A New Jail for Carrera and Whitney
During the last few weeks, Carrera and Whitney have been relocated from the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga to the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino.
Carrera appears happy with the detention center change, telling visitors that she appreciates her own room. From February until November, Carrera had to share a small room at the West Valley Detention Center with only three hours a day allowed outside.
Carrera and Whitney are both wearing green uniforms, which segregate them from the general population (in orange) due to the notorious nature of the crimes alleged against them by the state.
With the new postponement, both Carrera and Whitney had to assent that they were satisfied that their constitutional right to "a speedy trial" was being honored.
The trial now should take place before April 14, 2020, 60 days after the new pre-trial date.
For more of XBIZ's coverage of the Carrera case, click here.
Illustration: Courtroom sketch of Mercedes Carrera by Karl Stevens. Photo of the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse by Gustavo Turner