JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Judge Mark Borello has given the two defendants facing charges in the Lonzie Barton case until Monday to decide if they want to go to trial Dec. 7 or postpone.
The toddler was reported missing from his mother's Southside apartment complex four months ago. Despite a massive search, his body has not been found.
Lonzie's mother, Lonna Barton, and her ex-boyfriend, Ruben Ebron, are scheduled to go to trial in two weeks on charges of child neglect and lying to police. Ebron also faces charges associated with planning an escape from jail.
Barton's attorneys are leaning toward postponing, while Ebron's attorneys favor a speedy trial, which would begin Dec. 7.
Prosecutors want to try them together.
"On one hand, they have to abide by one defendant, who is saying, 'I do not want to waive my speedy trial rights, and I want to go to trial within 180 days of my arrest,' and then you have the other defendant, who would ask for a continuance (saying), 'I need more time to explore,'" said Rhonda Peoples-Waters, an attorney not connected to either case.
She said the defense lawyers know that their differing requests could disrupt the prosecutor's case.
The prosecution is also frustrated by the number of witnesses. There are more than 50 on the list, and only two have been deposed so far. The prosecution said it would be difficult to be ready for trial by Dec. 7.
The defense expressed concerns about the amount of material it has to go through before trial, including at least a dozen discs and more than 100 pages of documents.
According to the State Attorney's Office, Barton's attorneys want her Baker County criminal court case file. She was arrested on drug charges in that county in a separate case.
"The state is much more prepared then the defense to get their witnesses together," Peoples-Waters said. "Remember, these are witnesses the state has talked to a few times through their own detectives. It's just not a deposition, so it's the defense that will need to get ready very quickly."
A judge has yet to decide if Ebron, who reported Lonzie missing July 24, can get a fair trial in Duval County because of pretrial publicity.
Lawyer Gene Nichols, who is not associated with the case, said prosecutors have been successful in pitting Barton and Ebron against one another.
A detective told Barton in an interview that Ebron's best defense is to blame Barton.
"I told him, straight up, 'If there's anything, just anything that you can give me that would lead me to my baby,' you know, whatever, I told them I'd go find my baby," Barton told authorities, referring to Ebron. "He was like, 'I wish I could give you the answers you want, but I can't. I don't know.'"
Nichols said that even though there are a number of issues to be ironed out, it benefits Ebron to go to trial as soon as possible.
"Everybody knows the State Attorney's Office is investigating whether or not there's a potential homicide charge here," Nichols said. "Mr. Ebron is not going to give anyone any time to file any extra charges against him, whether it's extra child neglect or anything serious like that."
Nichols said that with two juries and separate charges for each defendant, one set of jurors might be excused from the courtroom for a short period of time.
"If there are facts that are very specific to one defendant and not the other, perhaps evidence suppressed in one case and not the other, then that's when one set of jurors will leave the room," Nichols said. "Most of the trial will have the jurors there, but if there's any time, any evidence that they're not supposed to hear, that's when you'll have the shuffling back and forth."
Nichols said Barton's biggest problem will be to convince her jury that she's a compassionate mother, especially after the release of video of her in a Baker County hotel room, allegedly using the drug Molly with her estranged husband, Chris Barton, and a police informant.
It's unclear if that video evidence can be used in Barton's upcoming trial.
Borello said that after Monday's hearing, he will not accept any requests to move the trial to a later date unless new evidence comes to light.
Peoples-Waters said that the kind of legal maneuvering happening with Barton and Ebron often leads to a plea agreement.