A Maryland appeals court ruled prosecutors have not run out of time to try the case of a woman accused of killing her two children.
Two of Catherine Hoggle's three children disappeared in September 2014 and haven't been found. Hoggle was the last person known to be with the missing children, who were ages 2 and 3 at the time.
Police have said she's refused to cooperate, and prosecutors have accused her of faking the extent of her mental illness. She's repeatedly been deemed not mentally competent for trial.
Maryland law mandates that charges must be dropped if a defendant continues to be classified as such after that period.
State’s Attorney John McCarthy has argued that because she wasn't formally indicted on murder charges until 2017, there’s still more time before those charges have to be dismissed.
The appeals court ruled prosecutors have until December 2022 to try the case, but Hoggle still needs to be found competent for a trial to move forward.
