WOODLAND — The attorney for Davis attempted kidnapping suspect Sander Ian Findlay requested a two-week delay for the case’s preliminary hearing Monday, citing newly received evidence in the case.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to go over all the information with Mr. Findlay,” Deputy Public Defender John Sage told Yolo Superior Court Judge Timothy Fall, as a shackled Findlay stood by his side.
Sander Findlay, 27, is a former UC Davis student. Courtesy photo
Sage said he’d only recently received a batch of police reports and other discovery, including data from Findlay’s seized computer and cell phone that took weeks for officers to cull through.
Fall granted the continuance but urged Deputy District Attorney Shelby Davitt to inform investigators that all materials should be disclosed by the end of this week. Findlay’s preliminary hearing — where prosecutors present the evidence to support their charges — is now set for Feb. 6.
A former UC Davis student, Findlay is accused of grabbing a 12-year-old girl as she walked home from school in the Lake Alhambra Estates neighborhood on the afternoon of Dec. 14. The girl was able to escape, and police arrested Findlay two days later.
Findlay, 27, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, including attempted kidnapping and false imprisonment.
Investigators confirmed that Findlay had come to officers’ attention months earlier after concerned parents reported that he had been staring at their children at parks and on bike paths while wearing a black ski mask and hooded sweater, despite the warm weather at the time.
Officers made contact with Findlay but took no enforcement action, as he was not engaging in any illegal activity at the time, they said.
Findlay remains in Yolo County Jail custody with bail set at $500,000 bail.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene