By Tam Nguyen, Nguoi Viet
SANTA ANA, Calif. ― The trial of the two suspects charged with the murder of Kim Pham outside of a nightclub earlier this year has been postponed until May 5.
WESTMINSTER, CA – FEBRUARY 10: A preliminary hearing is underway for (left to right) Vanesa Zavala and Candace Marie Brito at the West Justice Center on February 10, 2014 in Westminster, California. The two defendants were moved from their chairs and placed in the jury box for a better viewing angle while the prosecution played a video allegedly implicating them in the beating death of Kim Pham in front of a Santa Ana nightclub. (Photo by Mark Boster-Pool/Getty Images)
The trial was due to start Monday in Orange County Superior Court.
The attorneys for the defendants told Judge Thomas M. Goethals that they needed more time to prepare for the trial. The women ― Candace Brito, 27, and Vanesa Zavala, 25 ― are accused of murder and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury in the death of Pham.
Pham, 23, from Westminster, was assaulted outside of the Crosby nightclub in Santa Ana last January. Two days after the attack, she was removed from life support. She died from blunt-force trauma to the head, according to the Orange County Coroner’s office.
The two defendants entered not guilty pleas to the charges and have been held in custody since.
The women, dressed in civilian clothes, were in court on Monday, as were members of Pham’s family, who wore buttons in her honor. The family declined to comment.
