Tyler McCain jury trial postponed, new date to be decided next month
During this morning’s trial readiness conference for the man accused of killing Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain, the judge agreed to push the jury trial back to allow the defense more preparation time.
The jury trial for Tyler McCain, the man charged with killing his wife, Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain, has been postponed.
Nikki Cheng Saelee-McCain went missing in May of 2024. This past March, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said it was treating her case as a homicide, and in August, Tyler McCain was charged with her murder. The filing against him includes 11 additional charges and several other special allegations, including one that he killed Nikki to prevent her from testifying against him in court over domestic violence charges.
McCain’s trial was supposed to begin Nov. 18. But during this morning’s trial readiness conference, his lawyer, Michael Borges, requested the trial date be pushed back so that he could have more time to prepare for the case. He said he’s been given an abundance of materials relating to the case in recent days and weeks and hasn’t had ample time to review the documentation.
Borges first requested the trial be moved to March of 2026, but Shasta Superior Court Judge Adam B. Ryan was opposed to pushing the trial back so far. He told Borges it seemed he had made little effort so far to secure expert witnesses and public funds to help him prepare for the case, to which Borges requested again that the trial be pushed to next March because he thought it provided a reasonable amount of time to prepare.
The Shasta District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case on behalf of the people of California, requested the trial start mid- to late-January, instead. Judge Ryan asked the attorneys to reconvene on Dec. 16 to set a trial date.
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Sounds like a stall and delay tactic. Who wouldn’t demand their right to a “speedy trial” if one were innocent ? Stop the strategic delays! Time to prosecute!