Baymiller faces Feb. 24 arraignment

INCLINE VILLAGE - Mary Arlayne Baymiller, accused of stabbing her husband Charles Baymiller to death during an October incident at the couple's Lake Tahoe home, waived her right to attend a preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Baymiller's waiver means the next step is an 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, arraignment at the 2nd District Court in Reno, said Tom Viloria, attorney for Baymiller. District Court Judge Robert E. Perry will preside, and it is expected Baymiller will enter a plea.

"Defendants have the right to a preliminary hearing, but also have the option to waive," Viloria said. "In this particular case we decided there was no reason to go through the public process."

Viloria said it is common for a defendant to waive rights to a preliminary hearing, as the prosecution's burden of proof is significantly lower than at trial.

"Preliminary hearings are waived more often than conducted," Viloria said.

Mary Baymiller, 73, was arrested by U.S. Marshals at her residence in Fresno, Calif., at the request of the Washoe County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 20, 2010, in the alleged connection with the Oct. 5, 2009, stabbing death of her husband, Charles Alan Baymiller, 73, at the couple's home on the 1000 block of Lakeshore Drive in Incline Village.

Mary Baymiller - who was 72 at the time of the incident - has been charged with one count of open murder with use of a deadly weapon. Charges are considered "open" when they are not categorized, as in first-degree or second-degree murder, or voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.