Jaycee Dugard and her children may benefit from seeing Nancy Garrido prior to seeing her in court during a trial, the defendant’s lawyer said Friday.
Phillip and Nancy Garrido, the couple charged with kidnapping, raping, and holding Dugard captive for nearly two decades, appeared in an El Dorado County Court Friday for a brief hearing.
The judge extended an order for the Garridos to speak to each other by phone. The couple will be allowed one phone call to each other in July and one in August, at the sheriff's convenience.
Meanwhile, Stephen Tapson, Nancy Garrido's lawyer, told reporters outside court that at least one psychologist said it might be beneficial for Dugard and her children to see Nancy Garrido before the woman appears in trial.
"A couple of shrinks I've talked to say that it may be beneficial for Jaycee and the kids to see Nancy before actually seeing them in courtroom," Tapson said.
Tapson is asking any psychologist who’s working with the Dugard family to contact him at the El Dorado County district attorney's office to see if that’s something that they may want to pursue. However, since there's a protective order in the case, Tapson cannot contact them directly.
Dugard was found last year in an unincorporated area of Antioch in the Bay Area. She was kidnapped as a girl in 1991 from the El Dorado County community of Meyers, in South Lake Tahoe, and held against her will for about 18 years, prosecutors said.
Phillip Garrido, a sex offender, is accused of fathering Dugard’s two daughters.
"A lot of people don’t understand she loves those kids, she loves Jaycee." Tapson said. "And this is a relationship born in evil, at the end it came down to a family relationship. And she honestly truly misses her," Tapson said.
The Garridos are expected back in court on Aug. 20 at 1 p.m.
This article originally appeared on KCRA.com
