Accused Salinas child murderer may get new lawyers.

The attorney appointed a month ago to represent Tami Huntsman, who has been charged in a high-profile torture case concerning three children, two of whom died, has been “un-appointed” by her attorney, the county Alternate Public Defender.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Pamela Butler will have the last say on whether that will be allowed. She will make the decision on March 11, which is also the day a preliminary hearing date will be set. 

It is unclear why Alternate Public Defender Frank Dice asked Kay Duffy, the attorney who was appointed to Hunstman's case in January and has experience with murder trials, to step down. 

But on Friday, a pair of new attorneys from San Luis Obispo, Bill McLennan and Tom Allen, appeared in court to request more time before setting a date for a preliminary hearing, something Butler wants to schedule no later than July. 

McLennan argued he needed more time to find an expert witness who can testify in Huntsman’s defense. He also cited funding constraints as a reason for why it’s been difficult to find an expert witness that can speak to the children’s deadly injuries and how they were sustained. 

“I’m not trying to be difficult, your honor, all I am saying is that this is a capital punishment case and we need more time,” McLennan said to Butler in a hearing March 4. 

Butler was not convinced about the need for a delay, and said funding issues are not the court’s concern. She added that Huntsman’s case is not yet a death penalty case. (Prosecutors have filed the special circumstance allegations, but they have not yet decided if the death penalty will be sought.) 

“I am concerned with the change of counsel,” Butler added, “quite frankly, I’ve never seen this situation before and we oversee a lot of murder cases.”

Huntsman, who is pregnant, appeared in court with her hands handcuffed in the front instead of behind her. Her reputed 18-year-old boyfriend, Gonzalo Curiel, who was a minor at the time of the alleged crimes and has been charged as an adult, was also in court.

It was Curiel's first court appearance since being booked into county jail; he was relocated there from Juvenile Hall after turning 18 last week. It was Huntsman's first court appearance since news of her pregnancy was made public. Both had somber expressions throughout the hearing. 

Prosecutor Steve Somers said the preliminary hearing, which lays out much of the evidence that could be used at trial, will be a "bare bones" hearing. If Butler determines there's sufficient evidence for trial, testimony from up to seven people, three of whom are children, are expected from the prosecution side.

“We have children who watched their brother and sister die before their eyes,” Somers said. “So we do have an interest to have this trial sooner than later.”

The autopsy reports of the children, 7-year-old Shaun and 3-year-old Delylah Tara, have been completed and have been made available to attorneys.

Curiel’s attorney, Jeremy Dzubay, said he has yet to review the autopsy findings.

The dead children are believed to have died from ongoing physical abuse. Their decomposing bodies were found last December stuffed in plastics tubs inside a Redding storage unit. Officials believe they were killed on Thanksgiving weekend last year.

Their 9-year-old half-sister survived the ongoing abuse. Authorities rescued her hours before her dead siblings were found. She was located in a locked car in Plumas County with broken bones, infested with lice and open sores all over her body. It is unclear whether she will be one of the children to testify in the case.