By Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee

Prosecutors in the kidnap-rape trial of Phillip and Nancy Garrido apparently have changed gears, moving to get the El Dorado County grand jury to indict the couple and move the case to trial without going through a preliminary hearing, Nancy Garrido’s attorney said this afternoon.

Stephen Tapson said he had been told that the couple were indicted by the grand jury Monday or this morning but that he would not receive official word until a transcript of the grand jury session was completed.

Phillip and Nancy Garrido

District Attorney Vern Pierson could not be reached today, but Tapson said the net effect of the move would be to have the pending charges against the couple dismissed at the next scheduled hearing on Oct. 1. The new indictment would preclude the need for a preliminary hearing that had been set to begin Oct. 7, and would allow the new charges to be sent directly to a trial court, possibly speeding up proceedings that already have dragged on for 13 months.

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