HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Cory Bigsby, who’s under house arrest, and several witnesses were on hand Tuesday for one of several hearings that will lay the ground rules for the closely-watched case. It will determine who is responsible for the death of 4-year old Codi Bigsby.
On Jan. 31, 2022, Bigsby reported his son was missing. Extensive searches were conducted but the four-year-old was never found. Bigsby was arrested and charged with 23 neglect and abuse charges, but not murder. That changed in June when a grand jury alleged Bigsby not only killed his son but also did so around June 18, 2021, months before he reported the child missing. He was deemed competent to stand trial and is now under house arrest.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Defense attorney Amina Matheny-Willard secured some of the terms in two out of three motions.
The trial date is delayed, as Willard has proposed a late February to early March trial date.
The trial was delayed because Bigsby’s attorney said that she needed more time to go over the discovery material. She was allowed to escort her client to a bank Tuesday to take care of financial matters, and her motion to suppress evidence, as she is challenging mental competency, will be heard next week.
Matheny-Willard issued a statement to 10 On Your Side, saying in next week’s hearing she will object to a prosecutor’s plan to allow a child to testify via closed circuit television. This objection raises questions about whether the victim’s siblings can shed light on what happened to their baby brother. She said the prosecution’s video plan poses due process issue under the 14th amendment.
“[The Defense] is objecting because it gives the jury the impression that my client should be feared, which is not true and it interferes with his presumption of innocence,” she said. “Additionally, it is a violation of his Constitutional Right to confront and cross-examine the witness against him.
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,” she said, “which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”
