RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — The pretrial hearing in the Mercedes Carrera criminal case concerning multiple child sexual abuse charges against her and her husband — which was supposed to happen this morning at the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse in San Bernardino County, California — has been postponed, once again, until June 26.
The pretrial hearing, the crucial date that would determine the jury selection process and the date of the beginning of the actual trial, has already been postponed several times, most recently last February 14, when it was re-scheduled for today, May 1.
Carrera and her husband Jason Whitney were arrested after a police raid of their Rancho Cucamonga home on February 1, 2019.
Carrera and Whitney have been in county jail without trial for 15 months, first without bail and later, after they had liquidated their assets and had no source of income due to their incarceration, with bail set at $2 million for each.
The new date, June 26, appeared on the court records sometime before today, without any documentation or filing attached. Previous postponements had been requested by Carrera's public defender and Whitney's pro bono attorney, who are coordinating their defense strategies.
Proceedings at the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse, which XBIZ was covering closely, have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is unclear whether hearings are occurring in person, via videoconferencing or through electronic filing.
Several attempts by XBIZ to contact Carrera’s public defendant, Joshua Castro, have not been answered.
Carrera had phoned XBIZ a few times before the Central Detention Center in San Bernardino went into lockdown. Inmate visits have been suspended without an end date. The only way to contact inmates is via paper letter, or by waiting for them to make a phone call.
Yesterday, on the eve of her hearing, an inmate from the Central Detention Center, most likely Carrera, attempted to get in touch with XBIZ by phone, but the call went to voicemail. Inmates are not allowed to leave messages or to be called back.
For more of XBIZ’s coverage of the Mercedes Carrera case, click here.
