A brief court appearance on Wednesday for Vandenberg Village mother Ashlee Buzzard provided new insight into the status of her case, as her defense pushes for access to key forensic evidence.
Buzzard is accused of killing her 9-year-old daughter, Melodee. The case, which has been unfolding since October, remains in the pre-trial stage with no preliminary hearing date set.
During Wednesday’s hearing at the Lompoc Courthouse, attorneys addressed multiple pre-trial motions, including a request from the defense to compel the release of forensic materials.
According to court filings submitted by Senior Deputy Public Defender Erica Sutherland, the defense has been requesting evidence from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office for months, including detailed DNA testing files, ballistics reports and the victim’s autopsy report.
The filings state the defense first made an informal discovery request on Dec. 26, 2025, followed by more specific requests for DNA and ballistics materials on Jan. 6 and Jan. 9. As of March 27, the defense said it had not received the full forensic files, including underlying or “raw” data associated with those tests.
The motion to compel asks a judge to order prosecutors to turn over that evidence, arguing it is necessary to prepare for the next phase of the case and to protect the defendant’s due process rights.
“The defense has been waiting for the forensic files associated with Ms. Buzzard’s case for months,” the filing states, adding that the requested materials are believed to already exist and be readily accessible.
The defense also points to public statements made by Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown during a Dec. 23 press conference, where investigators announced that DNA analysis conducted by the FBI linked remains found in Utah to Buzzard, and that ballistics testing connected evidence from the Utah crime scene to a cartridge case recovered from Buzzard’s Vandenberg Village home.
Despite those public announcements, the defense argues that the underlying forensic data has not been provided.
Brown previously said Melodee was found shot to death on Dec. 6 in a remote area outside Caineville, Utah, following a multi-state investigation involving local and federal agencies, including the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Sutherland’s filing calls the delay in receiving the forensic materials “inexcusable.”
In addition to the discovery dispute, the defense is also challenging a search warrant used in the case. A separate motion seeks to have a judge review whether the warrant was properly issued and whether any evidence obtained from it should be excluded.
A hearing on the motion to compel forensic evidence is scheduled for April 22 in Lompoc, where a judge could decide whether prosecutors must release the requested materials. A second hearing on the search warrant challenge is set for May 6 in Santa Maria.
The case remains in its early stages, and no preliminary hearing date has yet been scheduled.
