A judge today ruled two pieces of DNA testimony against an
accused Hollister killer are admissible in court and that enough
evidence exists to send Travis J. Hoffmeister to trial on suspicion
of killing then-20-year-old Christella Macias before her body was
found on C Street in June 2007.
A judge today ruled two pieces of DNA testimony against an accused Hollister killer are admissible in court and that enough evidence exists to send Travis J. Hoffmeister to trial on suspicion of killing then-20-year-old Christella Macias before her body was found on C Street in June 2007.
Hoffmeister, 23, of Hollister is accused of beating Macias to death with a hammer and leaving her body on C Street to be discovered the morning of June 22, 2007.
San Benito County Judge Steven Sanders today ruled that DNA evidence taken from the victim’s body and a bag over her when found would be admissible and he set the next preliminary hearing for March 4.
Those are two of seven exhibits set for admissibility in a potential trial. Public defender Greg LaForge, representing Hoffmeister, had attempted to disqualify the two forms of DNA evidence while questioning whether proper testing procedures had been followed. Sanders, though, found the DNA testimony admissible before ruling there was enough evidence to continue on with a trial against Hoffmeister, who appeared in court today.
