Friday, March 30, 2007

Trial looms for man accused of lewd conduct

Plea agreement hasn?t been discussed


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Ovidio Ricaldi-Villajuan

With no plea agreement in the works, a jury trial for accused child molester Ovidio Ricaldi-Villajuan is still set to commence on April 25.

Twenty-three-year-old Ricaldi-Villajuan, who lives in Hailey and is suspected of being an illegal immigrant, has been charged with lewd conduct with a minor child under 16 for an alleged sexual encounter with a 4-year-old Hailey girl on Nov. 11, 2006.

The possibility of a plea agreement was mentioned by the defendant's attorney in February, but as of Tuesday such an agreement had still not been discussed, said Blaine County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Warren Christiansen.

"Something could happen between now and the 25th, but you never know for sure," Christiansen said.

Ricaldi-Villajuan, who remains incarcerated on $50,000 bond, appeared at a status hearing Tuesday afternoon before 5th District Judge Barry Wood, who was mildly irritated that the defendant's attorney was late for court and had to represent his client via telephone hookup.

Rupert attorney David Pena had notified the court earlier that he was running late, but by 2 p.m. Wood was ready for the hearing and Pena had to call in from his car, which he said was parked midway between Shoshone and Bellevue.

Wood scheduled another status hearing for 1:30 p.m. on April 10.

"I'll require you to be here on that date and to be timely so we can proceed with this case," Wood told Pena.




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