Attorneys for a 19-year-old charged with a recent Capitola homicide will be in court Monday asking to seal a protective order against the teen granted last year, which included an alleged offense they state was “not intended for public consumption,” and which they argue will prejudice potential future jurors.
The earlier case against Tyler Leibelt was a Juvenile Court case that was dismissed Feb. 11. It is unclear why it was dismissed. And while a defense pleading for the hearing itself contains redactions, court documents refer to the case as a juvenile case, stemming from when he was a minor.
Leibelt was arrested July 20 and charged with murder and other enhancement allegations, including lying in wait, for the fatal stabbing of Rachell Summers, 73, who managed Art of Santa Cruz gallery in Capitola Mall and had recently become a grandmother for the first time.
Leibelt was residing in a sober living home not far from Seabright Avenue in Santa Cruz when arrested. Last year, he was served the Nov. 7 Gun Violence Emergency Protective Order that led to Monday’s hearing at a county psychiatric facility on Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz. Earlier, he had been a student at San Lorenzo Valley High School.
Details in the protective order contain “highly prejudicial” information about the allegation that would unfairly prejudice any potential jury pool, Public Defenders Lisa McCamey and Ariana Alejandre stated in a court request filed Tuesday in Santa Cruz Superior Court.
The order had been prepared by Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputy Kade Archer and granted Nov. 7 by Superior Court Judge Nancy de la Pena. In it, Archer also stated Leibelt had expressed a desire to kill people and a desire to kill as many as possible.
The document has been available for public viewing at court. The juvenile justice allegation, which was not identified as such in the court order, was reported by at least one area news outlet, Salinas-based KSBW television station. Defense attorneys argue, in part, that the KSBW story sowed in readers’ and viewers’ minds the conclusion that the offense occurred but was not made public.
Investigators allege Leibelt chose his victim at random. After stabbing Summers several times, he fled on foot and called 911 to turn himself in to police a short time later, while standing behind a 41st Avenue hotel.
He remains in County Jail, and has appeared in court twice without entering a plea. His third scheduled arraignment is Wednesday.
