March trial set for Española man in 2019 death of 5-year-old stepdaughter

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Aug. 7—An Española man accused of killing his 5-year-old stepdaughter in 2019 has rejected a plea agreement offered by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Albuquerque.

Malcolm Torres, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Renezmae Calzada, a Santa Clara Pueblo girl whose body was found in the Rio Grande several days after her mother reporter her missing in September 2019.

He is scheduled to stand trial on the charge in March. Online court records indicate a hearing was held last month to formalize for the court record Torres' rejection of a plea agreement he'd been offered by federal prosecutors.

The terms of the agreement Torres rejected are "restricted" according to online court records, but minutes of the

July 22 hearing indicate it was confirmed during the hearing that Torres' attorneys discussed the offer with him "multiple times" and that Torres "understands that if convicted at trial he may be sentenced to longer."

Buck Glanz — one of two federal public defenders appointed to represent Torres in the case — declined to comment Friday.

Renezmae's disappearance sparked a dayslong search by hundreds of people, including law enforcement and civilians who took to the hills on horseback, motorcycle and all-terrain vehicles.

Torres was taken into custody as a person of interest after Renezmae's mother, Victoria Maestas of Santa Clara Pueblo, told police the girl had last been seen with Torres — with whom Maestas has a son.

He was later charged with killing the girl.

The pair shared custody of the children while a custody case was pending, according to court records.

The FBI took over investigating the case shortly after the girl's disappearance, saying it had jurisdiction over "any alleged crimes [that] may have occurred, which appear to be within the boundaries of Santa Clara Pueblo, and the child's affiliation with the Pueblo."

Authorities have released few details about Renezmae's death, where exactly her body was found or how she may have ended up in a river that is at least a mile from the east-central Española yard where she was last seen, according to reports from the time.

Prosecution and defense attorneys filed a joint motion early in the case, asking for it to be continued and designated as "complex" — which increases the length of time which can elapse before the case can be brought to trial without triggering speedy trial deadlines.

U.S. District Judge William

P. Johnson granted the motion

in November 2019 and set

the case for trial in the fall of 2020.

Court records show court deadlines in the case have been extended five more times since then, sometimes as a result of joint motions and several times based on defense motions.

The need to review a large amount of medical and forensic evidence, substitutions of counsel that made it necessary for new attorneys to get up to speed on the case and potential plea negotiations are among the reasons that have been given for delays. The pandemic has also been cited as a complicating factor.

The case was been set to go to trial in June, October and December of 2021 and December 2022 before Johnson issued a "sixth amended scheduling order" in July, setting the current March 13, 2023, trial date.

Although the U.S. Constitution guarantees defendants the right to speedy trial, the length of time which can elapse before a defendant can claim their rights have been violated is not specific and is based on a number of factors, including the complexity of the case and the source of and basis for requests for delay.

Because the law is aimed at protecting the rights of the defendant, cases in which the accused has asked for at least some of the delays, as Torres has, can be extended for years before speedy trial considerations come into play.

"Although we are saddened and upset it has taken this long we understand the delays due to unforeseen circumstances like the pandemic," Maestas wrote in a text message Friday.

"We ... want a resolution as quickly as possible as well as answers!" she added.

"But for now we are entrusting our legal system and the FBI to bring justice to [Renezmae's] case as soon as they are able."