CHICAGO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chief Judge James Shadid of U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois on Thursday signed an order, ruling the trial of missing Chinese visiting scholar Zhang Yingying's case will begin on June 3 and the court will begin mailing summonses to potential jurors on March 4.
By dedlaying the trial date originally scheduled for April, Judge Shadid has accommodated the interests of both the defense and the prosecution.
For the defense, the continuance has mitigated any potential prejudice to Defendant Brendt Christensen stemming from his counsel's mistakes; for the prosecution, it has allowed Attorney Nelson to attend to another capital case set to begin on Oct. 1.
Nelson, a trial attorney with the Justice Department's Capital Case Section, is one of the leading prosecutors in Zhang's case.
Moreover, a long continuance of the matter would not accommodate the interests of the victim's family, as they have already been inconvenienced by the change of venue.
Shadid granted an intra-district transfer of the trial of Zhang's case from the Urbana Division to the Peoria Division for further proceedings in December 2018.
Being aware of the victim's family's preference for a trial date prior to the two-year anniversary of Zhang's kidnapping, fixing the trial date on June 3, 2019 may be a small consolation to the victim's family, and reduce the time between the guilt and penalty phase, thus further reducing inconvenience to the victim's family, the order said.
Wang Zhidong, legal advisor to Zhang's family, told Xinhua that though there is a probability that the trial of the case will be further extended, this should be the last time.
Zhang's family was indignant at the continuance of the trial, but felt certain relief over the judge's consideration for them, Wang said. They hope justice will be done.
Zhang, 26, went missing on June 9, 2017, after getting into a black Saturn Astra about five blocks from where she got off a bus on her way to an apartment complex to sign a lease.
Brendt Christensen was arrested on June 30, 2017, after being caught on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor. On July 5, U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long ordered that Christensen remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial.
