Odessa Man Charged with Kidnapping and Sexual Assault Found Competent to Stand Trial 10/27/09
Lindsay Martin
October 27, 2009
Odessa- New information today in the case of an Odessa man, charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a nine-year old autistic girl.
The attorney for 24-year old Dwayne Dale Billings confirmed that there will be a hearing for a change of venue.
Defense Attorney David Zavoda requested the hearing, due to the large amount of publicity surrounding the case.
According to the Odessa American, a judge ruled yesterday that Billings is competent to stand trial.
No trial date has been set, but a pre-trial hearing is expected to take place November 16th.
It all began back in January 2007 when authorities and volunteers launched a massive 11-½ hour search for the girl, who was later found to be in a West Odessa home with billings.
They found the girl after a tip from Billing's grandfather, who saw coverage of the search on the news and called authorities.