El Cajon
A judge will consider an 11th-hour request today to delay the penalty phase in the trial of convicted murderer David Weeding and impanel a new jury to consider his fate.
Defense attorneys told San Diego Superior Court Judge Wayne Peterson on Tuesday that they would make these motions today, and the judge will hear them 30 minutes before the penalty phase is to begin.
Weeding, 40, of Santee, was convicted last week of first-degree murder in the May 20, 1988, stabbing of Daily Californian reporter Steve Petix, 31. Petix had come to the aid of his wife, who was fighting off an intruder in their El Cajon apartment.
In the penalty phase, the jury is to recommend whether Weeding should be put to death or be given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
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