Michelle Le Murder Suspect Withdraws Bail Motion, Requests New Attorney

Hayward, Calif. — Court proceedings in the case of a Union City woman charged with murdering nursing student have been delayed as the defendant has requested a new attorney.

Giselle Diwag Esteban, 27, appeared in a Hayward Hall of Justice courtroom at about 10:10 a.m. Monday morning with current court-appointed attorney Andrea Auer. Auer told Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gary Picettei that Esteban has requested a new attorney but did not disclose the reason for the request.

Esteban was Monday morning, but Auer also announced the motion has been withdrawn. She declined to comment on the matter.

Esteban and Auer are scheduled to return to court for a closed hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning to review Esteban’s request for a new attorney. Only the defendant, her attorney and a judge will be present at the hearing.

If assigned a new attorney, the case may be delayed further due to Esteban’s pregnancy.

According to media reports, Esteban was at least seven months pregnant at the time of .

She has been charged with the murder of Le, 26, who was missing for nearly four months before . Le was last seen at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Hayward on May 27.

Soon after Esteban’s arrest outside of her Union City home, police announced that evidence indicates Esteban is believed to be the sole person 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.

After Esteban’s first scheduled court appearance on Sept. 8, Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson said that if Esteban was still in custody at the time of labor, the baby would be delivered in a hospital. After the child is born, the child’s family and Child Protective Services would determine who will have custody.

It is not yet been publicly disclosed who the father of the child is.

Esteban’s relatives, who appeared in court Monday morning, declined to comment.

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