HAMPTON, Va. — A hearing for Cory Bigsby, a Hampton man facing a litany of child neglect and endangerment charges, has been postponed.
A Hampton Circuit Court judge postponed the hearing Tuesday, which was meant to debate what evidence should be permitted in his upcoming trial.
Bigsby faces 30 child neglect charges that are unrelated to his 4-year-old son Codi's disappearance.
According to a Hampton Police Division audit, Bigsby asked for a lawyer when he was being questioned about his missing son back in February, but police didn't immediately honor his request.
His attorney, Curtis Brown wants FBI agents who were present during the interrogation to appear in court.
But the judge quashed his original subpoenas because Brown did not have the full names of the agents and did not follow the necessary procedure to subpoena a federal agent.
“We’re having some problems. We don’t know their names, we just have their last names and that wasn’t good enough. The judge threw those out,” Brown said. “We need those FBI agents to be there in the case. That’s why we have to have them. They were there the whole time. We won’t be able to get that motion suppressed unless we have all of them along with all the Hampton police officers.”
Once the subpoenas are re-filed, Bigsby’s defense team and prosecutors will discuss what evidence should be thrown out before the trial starts.
Brown is trying to subpoena 10 people in total.
“Four FBI agents and it’s about six Hampton police officers that were there,” he said.
Another Bigsby attorney, Amina Matheny-Willard, said Brown is now the lead counsel on the case.
“Because he has expertise in jury trials,” she said. “And as I said before with what the city of Hampton is doing, we’re getting all the firepower we can get.”
Attorney Kenneth Singleton also joined the defense team.
As a recap of the case: Bigsby first reported his 4-year-old son Codi missing on Jan. 31. The child still hasn't been found.
When Bigsby went to the police station to talk to officers about his missing son, he told them he sometimes left his young children at home alone. That's what the initial seven child neglect charges stem from. They're not related to Codi's disappearance.
Since February, Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot has said investigators don't think Codi wandered off, and they don't think he was abducted.
Bigsby was arrested on Feb. 3 after spending several days answering questions at the police division's headquarters.
In July, a grand jury found enough evidence for over 30 charges, including child neglect and endangerment.
Bigsby has been behind bars for about eight months now.
Outside the courtroom Tuesday, community members who searched for Codi say they do not want the little boy to be forgotten.
“You didn’t do your paperwork, you didn’t submit, OK that’s your fault. That’s the defense's fault. Now let’s get to the real point: where is Codi? Where is he? Where is Codi?” Charese Howard asked. “This could be our grandson, our grandchild, our nephew. For this case to keep dragging on and on for political, that’s what it seems like, no one‘s mentioned almost talked about where this child is and that’s crazy.”
Another woman, Nancy Strickland said: “Codi is my heart. I fell in love with Codi as soon as I seen him go missing. It’s like, I look at my own grandchildren.”
Bigsby will appear in court again on October 13. His trial is expected to start in November.