The hearing that had been slated for Tuesday morning for Eleanor Hunton Hoppe, the Albemarle County mother and socialite charged with child enticement and child pornography, appears likely to be continued, according to an unopposed motion in federal court in Washington, D.C.
“The defense needs additional time to review discovery, meet with Ms. Hoppe, obtain relevant records, and perform necessary investigation,” wrote Assistant Federal Public Defender Ned Smock in the motion. “This adjournment will allow the defense adequate time to prepare.”
Hoppe, who was once married to Charlottesville-based federal Judge Joel Hoppe, faces a potential life sentence on the most serious of one of her three federal charges: enticement of a minor.
Federal investigators allege that Eleanor Hoppe used encrypted communications to plan a rendezvous at a Warrenton motel with someone she thought was a perverted parent. But when she arrived at the motel in late March, she was arrested.
Reached by telephone Monday, her attorney Smock declined comment to the Daily Progress.
The court records do not include a written account of why the defendant, who attended a private Richmond girls school called St. Catherine’s and whose family founded what became Richmond’s largest law firm, Hunton Andrews Kurth, qualified for the services of a public defender.
Smock’s motion requests a delay in the case of 60 days.
While the motion to continue the case was unopposed, it was not yet ruled on by the close of business Monday evening, according to Patty Hartman, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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