McDaniel hearing on porn charges canceled

A scheduled Friday court hearing for Stephen McDaniel on sexual exploitation charges has been canceled.

His attorney, Floyd Buford, said McDaniel is waiving his right to have a judge hear testimony during a preliminary hearing about the sexual exploitation of children charges to determine if there’s enough evidence for the case to proceed.

“The stage that we’re in now, we don’t feel like having the hearing at this time is necessary,” Buford said.

McDaniel also waived his right to a similar hearing in July after he was charged with burglarizing two apartments.

McDaniel, 25, also is charged with killing his Mercer law school classmate and next-door neighbor, Lauren Giddings, in late June. During the investigation, police say images of children involved in sex acts were found on a flash drive computer file in McDaniel’s apartment.

District Attorney Greg Winters said the next step is for the charges against McDaniel to be presented to a grand jury, which would choose whether to indict him.

This story was originally published September 16, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "McDaniel hearing on porn charges canceled."