Judge Sets Hearing to Evaluate Search Warrant in Ashlee Buzzard Murder Case

An upcoming court hearing will determine whether prosecutors can use evidence from a search warrant in the case against Ashlee Buzzard, the Vandenberg Village woman accused of murdering her 9-year-old daughter, Melodee. On Wednesday, Buzzard made a brief appearance in Lompoc’s criminal court, where Judge Stephen Dunkle said that Judge Denise Hippach would hear the defense’s motion to quash and traverse a search warrant on May 6. Judge Hippach issued the warrant last fall, during the search for Melodee Buzzard. 

Warrants come with affidavits, statements that a law enforcement officer makes, swearing they have probable cause to search a specific location. If Judge Hippach finds that the affidavit does not have probable cause, or that it contains omissions or misstatements, the defense can request Judge Dunkle suppress the evidence obtained through the warrant. 

On Wednesday’s court appearance, Judge Dunkle also set a hearing for a second motion from the defense — one that would require the prosecution to send its discovery of forensic and ballistic evidence. 

In the motion, Buzzard’s public defender, attorney Erica Sutherland, said that the defense had made informal requests for the prosecution’s discovery in December.

She said the defense then made specific requests in January, including extensive forensic and ballistic information. 

“To date, the defense has received cursory reports with DNA and ballistic results but has not received any items from the specific discovery demands made over three months ago,” Sutherland wrote in the motion. “The autopsy report remains outstanding as well.”

If Judge Dunkle grants this motion to compel the discovery, it means the prosecution will need to hand over this information to the defense. 

The search for Melodee Buzzard started on October 14 of last year. It spanned more than two months and included multiple law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement said that Buzzard drove Melodee to the Nebraska area and then started the journey back in a rental car. Law enforcement said that Buzzard returned to Lompoc alone. 

On December 6, a couple discovered a body in a remote part of Wayne County, Utah, according to law enforcement at a December 23 press conference. At the press conference, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said that this was Melodee’s body. 

The court has not yet set Ashlee Buzzard’s preliminary hearing. She has waived her time for its setting through May and is being held without bail. 

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