The lawyers representing Houston-area woman Magen Fieramusca against allegations that she kidnapped her friend Heidi Broussard and took Broussard’s newborn daughter no longer will appear in a Travis County courtroom on Thursday.
The case’s initial setting in state District Judge Geoffrey Puryear’s courtroom was moved to Feb. 3 at the request of Fieramusca’s defense lawyers, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office said Tuesday.
The reason for the delay was not given. However, it is not uncommon for a lawyer to ask for a new setting in a case, particularly around the holidays.
By the time the lawyers appear in court, the public could have additional details about Fieramusca’s alleged involvement in the disappearance of Broussard on Dec. 12 and the discovery of her body in the trunk of a vehicle near Houston eight days later. Court documents in the case, including an arrest affidavit that will reveal what authorities learned in their investigation, are sealed and won’t become public until mid-January, at the earliest.
Sources told the American-Statesman that Fieramusca had plotted for months to steal Broussard’s baby, going as far as to fake her own pregnancy to run alongside Fieramusca’s pregnancy and creating her own online baby registry. Broussard’s daughter, Margot, who was born in late November, was found unharmed at a home in Jersey Village owned by Fieramusca’s boyfriend. The vehicle in which Broussard was found was parked outside.
Her cause of death was homicide by strangulation with a ligature, according to authorities.
Fieramusca, 33, is charged with two counts of kidnapping and one count of tampering with a corpse. She is not charged directly to Broussard’s death.
Fieramusca’s attorneys, Jackie Wood and Brian Erskine, previously released a statement reminding the public that their client is innocent until proven guilty.
“As with every American accused of a crime, unless the state can prove these allegations beyond any reasonable doubt, Ms. Fieramusca is innocent,” the statement said.
Fieramusca’s presence at the Feb. 3 setting is not required.
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