The San Benito County woman accused of shooting and killing her 19-month-old daughter in 2008 has a Wednesday hearing where a judge could set a date for a proceeding to determine if she is mentally fit for a jury trial.
That hearing at 10 a.m. in courtroom 101 before Judge Steven Sanders is to set a date for a trial. That trial, however, is not to determine whether the defendant, Cheryl L. Busch, is guilty of homicide as charged. Rather, it is to make a finding whether she is mentally fit to face a jury trial.
Busch, 41, is accused of shooting her young daughter with a .357 Magnum in November 2008 on her family’s Shore Road property.
Previously, Busch spent nearly nine months in Patton State Hospital after she had been admitted there March 24, 2010. After she took part in a trial competency program at the hospital, a judge in May ruled she is mentally competent for trial.
About three months ago, her attorney, public defender Greg LaForge, filed another motion contending she is mentally incompetent for a jury trial.
