Trial to begin July 9: Meechaiel Criner appears in court for status hearing in Haruka Weiser murder case

Anna Lassmann

February 12, 2018

Courtesy of Ricardo B. Brazziell/AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Meechaiel Criner appeared in court on Monday morning at the Travis County Courthouse for a status hearing.

The lawyers for the case said they are still waiting for additional DNA results. Criner’s next court date is scheduled for March 21.

Criner’s lawyer is waiting for the DNA testing before proceeding with a motion to argue that the DNA results should be tossed out due to flawed testing. This motion will most likely happen sometime in May, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

The trial is set to begin July 9.

Criner was indicted on capital murder charges in June 2016 in connection to the April 2016 on-campus death of UT dance freshman Haruka Weiser. Weiser’s body was found on April 5, 2016 in Waller Creek behind the Alumni Center.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article said the trial was set to begin in June. The Daily Texan regrets this error.