Turlock hate crime case rescheduled

A judge on Friday rescheduled a preliminary hearing to begin Dec. 19 for a father and son accused of a hate crime in an assault on a black woman outside a Turlock bar nearly three years ago.

Eddie Taylor, 57, and Eddie Taylor II, 28, have pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against them and denied the prosecution’s allegations of committing a hate crime. The Taylors are accused of attacking Latisha Mcany during a confrontation outside Staley’s Club shortly after 2 a.m. Dec. 23, 2013.

The preliminary hearing to determine whether there’s enough evidence for the defendants to stand trial initially was scheduled to begin Oct. 7, but defense attorney Tai Bogan failed to show. It was the seventh time the hearing had been postponed.

Bogan, who is representing the father, was defending another client in a trial in San Joaquin County last week.

On Friday morning, Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Ricardo Córdova told Bogan that arrangements had been made by the court and the other defense attorney to begin the hearing with the alleged victim’s testimony last week. The judge said Oct. 7 was the first time he heard about Bogan’s San Joaquin County trial.

Bogan told the judge that he had notified the bailiff and others that he wasn’t sure whether the trial would continue Oct. 7, making him unavailable to be in the Stanislaus County courtroom.

Mcany told the judge last week that the postponements have taken an emotional toll on her, but she will be in court and ready to testify when the hearing begins.

Córdova on Friday told Bogan, defense attorney Percy Martinez and Deputy District Attorney Beth O’Hara DeJong to be in court on the morning of Dec. 19 ready to begin the preliminary hearing. If it conflicts with other cases they have scheduled, Córdova told the attorneys they must tell the other judges the hate crime case will take priority.

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Turlock hate crime case rescheduled."