MIAMI, Fla. – A Titusville teen facing federal charges in the alleged rape and killing of his stepsister aboard a cruise ship will have more time before his case goes to trial.
Prosecutors say 16-year-old Timothy Hudson sexually assaulted and killed 18-year-old Anna Kepner while the Carnival Horizon cruise ship was making its return to Miami in November.
[RELATED: New Developments In Cruise Ship Murder of Anna Kepner]
Attorneys for Hudson filed a motion Monday asking a judge to push back the trial, which had been slated to start Sept. 8.
Court documents obtained by News 6 show that request was approved. The trial is now scheduled to begin Nov. 2.
In the filing, the defense said additional preparation time is needed, citing in part “the unique – and very unfortunate – family dynamic that has resulted from the allegations here.”
[RELATED: Stepbrother ordered into custody after violent cruise ship death]
Regardless of whether Hudson is convicted by a jury or enters a plea, his attorneys say the 16-year-old is entitled to a so-called Miller hearing to determine whether the juvenile is eligible for a sentence other than automatic life in prison.
“Preparation for a Miller hearing often resembles the type of mitigation investigation involved in a capital prosecution,” Assistant Federal Public Defender Eric M. Cohen wrote. “Unfortunately, however, defense counsel do not have the type of access to certain family members that would facilitate their investigation.”
In a footnote to the motion for a trial delay, the defense attorney acknowledged that he was “purposely being vague due to the intense media scrutiny this case has garnered.”
Federal prosecutors are not opposed to the trial delay, the motion states.
