Because of a number of unique circumstances, the Brian Nichols case in Georgia is focusing attention on Georgia's indigent defense system. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports, "Courthouse slayings trial is postponed again."
The death penalty trial of Fulton County Courthouse rampage suspect Brian Nichols has been postponed again.
The two-sentence press release from court officials didn't explain why, but sources familiar with the case say the judge felt forced to wait because of complaints by Nichols' attorneys' that they're running out of money to properly defend their client.
Jury selection was scheduled to start Sept. 10. It is now scheduled to begin Oct. 1, with opening arguments and testimony not expected to begin until 2008. The trial was initially set for October 2006.
Nichols is accused of escaping his rape trial on March 11, 2005 and killing the trial judge, his court reporter and a sheriff's sergeant at the courthouse and later a federal agent in Buckhead.
Nichols' defense team, now headed by veteran North Carolina attorney Henderson Hill, had agreed to plead guilty on murder charges if Nichols could spend the rest of his life in prison and District Attorney Paul Howard would drop his attempts to seek a death sentence. Howard has declined.
Nichols has four attorneys to handle the high-profile case, which is expected to cost as much as $4 million. As prosecutors add more witnesses, Nichols' attorneys say they need more time and money to do their homework. State legislators recently cut the budget of the Georgia Public Defenders Standards Council, which pays for the defense of Nichols and all death penalty and poor defendants across Georgia.
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