CHICAGO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Defense Counsel of Defendant Brendt Christensen who is accused of kidnapping a Chinese scholar has on Wednesday submitted a request to continue the pretrial conference and jury trial settings for Zhang Yingying's kidnapping case.
In an e-filed motion released by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois Urbana Division Thursday, defense attorneys Thomas Bruno, Anthony Bruno and Evan Bruno of Bruno Law Offices state that allowing for the voluminous discovery in the case, and the fact that the U.S. Attorney plans to tender additional discovery that is not yet available, they request the "Honorable Court" conduct a status conference on August 28, 2017, and enter an order continuing the pretrial conference and jury trial settings in this case.
"The ends of justice would be served by continuing this matter," the defense attorneys said.
The e-filed motion shows that the defense attorneys have reached an agreement with the U.S. attorneys on this matter.
Wang Zhidong, a U.S. lawyer who is offering legal advice to the family of Zhang Yingying on a voluntary basis, said the motion of continuing pretrial conference and jury trial settings is within his anticipation, and the judge will approve it and reschedule new dates.
Zhang Yingying, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), went missing on June 9 after entering a black Saturn Astra. FBI arrested Brendt Christensen, the car owner, on June 30, accusing him of kidnapping Zhang on June 9 in Urbana, 225 km southwest of Chicago. The police and FBI believe Zhang is dead, but her body has not been found.
Christensen has pleaded not guilty at the courthouse.
UIUC has the largest Chinese student population studying here in the U.S., totaling 5,600.
