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Crime & Safety

Lawyer for Le Suspect Seeks Bail

Lawyer must prove Giselle Esteban would not be a flight risk.

The Union City woman charged with murdering nursing student did not appear in court Wednesday, but a defense attorney in the case announced that a bail motion will be made at her next court date. 

Giselle Diwag Esteban, 27, was unable to come to court for medical reasons, according to Andrea Auer, a court-appointed attorney who has yet to confirm whether she will take on Esteban's case.

Auer appeared at the Hayward Hall of Justice on Esteban’s behalf and asked to move Esteban’s hearing to Oct. 24 to enter a plea and make a bail motion.

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Esteban, who is in her third trimester of pregnancy, is being held at the Santa Rita Jail infirmary on no bail, according to online court documents.

Auer did not comment on why a bail motion is being made or whether it is connected to Esteban’s pregnancy.

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 “I can’t discuss that at this time,” Auer said.

Media reports have indicated that Esteban was at least seven months pregnant at the time of her arrest on Sept. 7.

Esteban has been charged with the murder of Le, 26, who was missing for nearly four months before in a wooded area near Pleasanton off Verona Road. 

Legal analyst Steven Clark said the defense will have to make a strong case for bail and prove that Esteban will not flee and is not a danger to the community. Clark added that if bail is granted, it may be set at a higher amount than usual and be combined with several monitoring devices.

“Getting bail on a murder case is an uphill battle,” Clark said. “It’s very unsual to be this far along in your pregnancy in the middle of a murder case.”

Esteban, who is said to be a former friend of Le, was on suspicion of murder.  Le was last seen at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Hayward on May 27.

Soon after her arrest, police announced that evidence indicates that Esteban is believed to be the sole party responsible for Le’s murder.

The evidence includes Le’s DNA found on Esteban’s athletic shoes; footage from security cameras at the Kaiser Permanente parking structure, where Le was last seen, showing Esteban’s presence before and after Le’s disappearance; and evidence found inside Le's car that suggests Esteban had been inside the vehicle.

Police also said cell phone records from Le and Esteban show their phones "traveled along the same path," leaving the area just after Le's disappearance.

Still, Clark said the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has a “very unusual” theory to prove in that Esteban was able to act alone in every part of Le’s murder.

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