MADERA — The 47-year-old North Fork man charged with homicide in the death of prominent Mono tribal elder Gaylen Lee made another appearance in Madera County Superior Court on Tuesday (Oct. 30) morning.
Robert Moye Jr.
Robert Eugene Moye Jr. appeared this morning before visiting Judge Josh M. Fredricks in Department 22.
Handcuffed and shackled, Moye was dressed in a yellow and white striped prison jump suit. He talked with his lawyer before the proceeding started but did not speak during the three-minute-long “prelim setting” hearing.
More than a dozen of Lee’s relatives and friends also attended this morning’s hearing, at which Moye’s court-appointed lawyer, Craig Collins, asked for more time to prepare his case.
Assistant District Attorney Brooke Bergman, who is prosecuting the case, went along with the defense’s request for more time and Judge Fredricks set Moye’s next court appearance for Dec. 2.
His bail remains at $3.75 million.
Moye was arrested on July 6 in the hours immediately following the shooting, which occurred near Lee’s home on Cascadel Drive (Road 233) in North Fork.
In addition to the murder charge, Moye also currently faces two counts of attempted murder, being a felon/addict in possession of a firearm, and possession of marijuana/hashish for sale (over 2 ounces). He has entered a plea of not guilty.
After Lee’s relatives and friends filed out of the courtroom this morning, they gathered in a hallway to speak with a victim’s advocate. Most have made the trip from North Fork to witness nearly every one of Moye’s now more than a half dozen brief court appearances.
“We’re not going to ask them to delay this too much longer,” Moye’s public defender Collins said before this morning’s hearing. “We plan to go to trial.”
Collins said he is still reviewing “audio” recordings and numerous reports from investigators. After today’s hearing, he guessed Moye’s actual trial could begin as early as “this spring.”
Collins has already said Moye intends to plead self defense in the shooting.
