Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
ROCKVILLE, Md. – Prosecutors “still haven’t decided to seek the ultimate penalty” for Curtis Maurice Lopez, who is charged with murdering his estranged wife and stepson.
Montgomery County Deputy State’s Attorney John Maloney told a circuit court judge prosecutors are still waiting for DNA results needed to meet the state’s stringent requirements for a death penalty case.
Outside the courtroom, Lopez’s attorney, public defender Alan Drew, said his client “is nervous, understandably,” and “aware” that prosecutors may seek the death penalty.
Drew would not discuss what defenses he might employ.
Lopez was indicted for the October 2011 murder of Jane McQuain, whose body was found in her Germantown apartment. The body of her son, William McQuain, was recovered in the woods nearby several days later after an intense search for the 11-year-old.
Lopez was arrested in North Carolina in mid-October.
In court, prosecutors told the judge they expect the case to take three weeks.
Maloney said prosecutors plan to present video and DNA evidence related to a two-week period of time surrounding the murders and manhunt.
Circuit Court Judge John Debelius set the trial to begin July 10.
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