UPDATED
Lawmakers Want Records Of Defense Spending On Nichols Case

By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia

(Updated at 3:50 p.m. with judge's response. New material highlighted.)

(12/14/07) Members of a special committee appointed by the Speaker to look into the handling of the costly case against accused courthouse killer Brian Nichols have served a letter on the judge seeking access to records showing just what he’s given state-paid defense attorneys permission to spend.

Senior Judge Hilton Fuller responded Friday with an order for both the prosecution and the defense to prepare responses for him to hear next week as to how the court should respond to ensure that both sides are protected and members of the jury pool weren't tainted.

Specifically, he asked them if the prosecution should be required to make a similar disclosure if the defense also is required to disclose, whether both sides should prepare a budget of expected costs and expenditures through the end of trial and what limits should be placed on public disclosure of the information.

He said he would hear from each side separately and privately on Dec. 18. (A link to the order can be found below.)

The state is absorbing defense costs through its public defender program, and so far the tab is approaching $2 million. The average cost of a death penalty trial in the state has averaged no more than $360,000, and the Public Defender Standards Council now is budgeting only about $257,000 for such cases, the three committee members wrote in a letter to Fuller.

The committee members are House Majority Whip Barry Fleming and Reps. Jay Shaw and Chuck Martin.

Speaker Glenn Richardson has charged them with finding out why the case was allowed to become so costly and to look at options up to and including possible impeachment of the judge.

Fuller, a retired or senior judge from DeKalb County, was selected for the case after all of the Fulton County superior court judges recused themselves. One of the victims was a fellow judge.

The lawmakers acknowledged that the case is extraordinary and said they agreed Nichols “is entitled to a reasonable and necessary defense, just as the victims and their families are entitled to a fair and expeditious resolution of the case.”

But they told him also it was incumbent on lawmakers to look into the records of what he’s authorized in defense spending “because you have spoken from the bench as to the need for more public funding for Mr. Nichols’ trial and because you have already approved close to $2 million in expenses ...”

They asked the judge to submit by Dec. 21 copies of all approved expense requests including, but not limited to, travel expenses for defense lawyers, hours spent in preparing the defense, expenses for expert witnesses and any other expenses incurred on Nichols’ behalf.

The judge has sealed that information, saying it could improperly tip off the prosecution about the defense strategy.

The lawmakers said: “We would expect that you would redact any information that reveals trial strategies of the defense.”

Click here to view the order.