A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge in Lompoc scheduled hearings on a defense motion seeking to suppress evidence in the case of a Vandenberg Village woman accused of killing her 9-year-old daughter.

Ashlee Buzzard, 40, was arrested in December, months after authorities determined that her daughter, Melodee, was missing, but the mother refused to cooperate with law enforcement officers trying to determine the girl’s whereabouts. 

The girl’s remains were found in early December in Utah.

On Wednesday, Judge Stephen Dunkle told attorneys that a motion to quash and traverse would be heard by Judge Denise Hippach in Santa Maria at 1:30 p.m. May 6. 

Hippach signed the warrant being challenged by Buzzard’s attorney, Erica Sutherland. 

The defense team asked Hippach to review the warrant in private, contending that the assessment needed to occur before a preliminary hearing. 

If the judge denies the motion to quash, the judge should consider a motion to traverse with Sutherland contending that based on a false or misleading statement some parts of the evidence obtained via the warrant should be set aside.

Many of the documents detailing the evidence in the case have been sealed, so it’s not known what aspects the defense team seeks to quash.

In a second matter, Dunkle said, he will hear the defense motion to compel the prosecution team to turn over discovery. That hearing is planned for 1:30 p.m. April 22.

“The defense has been waiting for the forensic files associated with Ms. Buzzard’s case for months,” Sutherland wrote in her motion. 

She contended that some forensic reports “were completed months ago and publicized by Sheriff Bill Brown during his infamous press conference” in December, labeling the delay inexcusable.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jordan Lockey previously noted the multi-month, multi-state investigation involving law enforcement agencies in several jurisdictions.

Buzzard remains in the custody of the Santa Barbara County Jail.

For brief hearings such as Wednesday’s, Buzzard and her attorney sit in the empty jury chairs located closer to the door to access holding cells where defendants wait for their cases to be called. 

While some spectators have wondered why Buzzard received special treatment, that seating situation is common as the court calls cases for both in-custody and out-of-custody defendants.