SPOKANE, Wash. (Court TV) — A Washington state attorney is in hot water after failing to appear in court as jury selection was scheduled to begin in her client’s murder case.
Cynthia Khaleel appears in court for a pretrial hearing (KREM)
Jury selection was scheduled to begin today for Cynthia Khaleel, who is charged with murder in the death of her ex-boyfriend, Justin Daniel.
Judge Jacqueline High-Edward’s judicial assistant confirmed to Court TV that Khaleel’s defense attorney failed to arrive in court as schedule Monday. High-Edward issued an order to show cause, but the attorney still failed to appear. The judge continued the show cause issue to 1:30 p.m. PST Tuesday and continued Khaleel’s trial for 30 days.
Prosecutors had said they were ready to proceed to trial on April 23, but Khaleel’s defense lawyers repeatedly demurred when asked if they were ready. When one of Kahleel’s attorneys, Stephanie Cady, eventually asked for a six-week delay, High-Edward flatly refused the motion. High-Edward threatened Cady with contempt when she refused to engage in further arguments over motions.
Khaleel’s trial has been rescheduled more than 10 times, and at April’s hearing, Cady’s defense lawyers said they still had not been able to get through all of the discovery in the case.
Prosecutors say that Khaleel stabbed Daniel 48 times and shot him three times after arriving at his home in violation of a no-contact order. First responders who were at the scene described seeing kitchen knives scattered at the top of the stairs, blood smears on the walls and multiple broken windows in the home. Court documents obtained by local ABC affiliate KXLY show that Khaleel had recently lost a custody battle over the former couple’s 3-year-old child.
Khaleel has pleaded not guilty.
Khaleel was previously acquitted of second-degree murder in the death of her nephew, who suffered blunt force injuries while in her care in 2015.
