Next Potential Court Date Set in Wayland Murder Case

Nathaniel Fujita could next be in court after the first of the year.

During a pre-trial conference Oct. 12 at in Woburn, defense attorney Bill Sullivan and co-counsel Sabrina Bonanno met with Assistant District Attorney Lisa McGovern to discuss upcoming dates in Fujita’s case. Fujita, a Wayland High School Class of 2011 graduate, is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend and . Fujita was not present for the Oct. 12 pre-trial conference.

The conference did not feature any public discussion though Malcolm Astley, Lauren’s father, and Tomo Fujita, Nathaniel Fujita's father, did attend.

The next potential court date is a motion to dismiss hearing scheduled for Jan. 12, 2012. That hearing, however, is scheduled as standard procedure and is dependent on whether defense decides to file the motion. If defense declines to file a motion to dismiss, this particular hearing will not occur.

After the conference, Sullivan referenced a pile of documents he carried and said his team is continuing to go through extensive reports and notes.

“We have an awful lot of reports and documents,” Sullivan said, mentioning specifically . “It’s too early to tell whether we will actually file [a motion to dismiss].”

Sullivan declined to talk much about his interactions with Fujita, but did say his client is “doing probably as well as can be expected.”

While no date has yet been set, it’s possible another hearing could occur before the Jan. 12 date to collect DNA through a buccal, or cheek, swab from Fujita.