A Hood River man accused of murdering the mother of his child won’t go before a judge again until next year following the conclusion of a court appearance on Monday that provided no new information on the crime.
Miguel Angel Soto-Quintana, 29, appeared before Judge John Wolf in Hood River County Circuit Court Monday morning via video feed from the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility in The Dalles for a status hearing. Soto-Quintana was arrested early last month and charged with the murder of Cecilia Campuzano-Ortiz, 23, whose body was found by police in her apartment at 22nd and Montello. Soto-Quintana was convicted last year of assaulting Campuzano-Ortiz and was ordered by the court to have no contact with Campuzano-Ortiz, with the exception of mail or email to arrange parenting time or text messaging in the case of a medical emergency of their 3-year-old daughter.
During the court appearance Monday, Soto-Quintana’s attorney, Clayton Lance, informed the court his client would be waiving his right to a speedy trial, as well as the “60-day rule,” which is a reference to an Oregon statute that mandates that “a defendant shall not remain in custody pending commencement of the trial of the defendant more than 60 days after the time of arrest.” These rights are often waived by the defense in order to have more time to prepare the case or work out a plea.
The court also took time to address the discrepancy regarding the defendant’s name, which Wolf said was listed as “Soto-Quintana” on some documents and “Quintana-Soto” on others. The defendant informed the court he went by “Soto-Quintana.”
Deputy District Attorney Carrie Rasmussen didn’t discuss any new information on the case, although she informed Lance that she had “203 pages of discovery” (evidence) for him to pore over, as well as “a disc with all the pictures on it.”
Lance requested five to six weeks to review the evidence before the next court appearance, but due to the holidays, was pushed back until Monday, Jan. 5, 2015 at 11 a.m. If convicted, Soto-Quintana could receive a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years.
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