- ‘Everyone knows he did it”
We refer to DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller, who was interviewed by the New Yorker's Jeff Toobin about the legal defense for Brian Nichols, the fellow who is charged with going berserk in an Atlanta courthouse and killing a judge, court reporter, sheriff’s sergeant and federal agent. In the article, Fuller offers his views on why Nichols’s attorneys have turned to the insanity defense. “That’s their only defense,” Fuller is quoted as saying, “because everyone in the world knows he did it.” Dum-dee-dum-dum. Fuller, who announced he would recuse himself from the case, claims that his agreement with Toobin was that the interview would be on background (which means 20 different things to 20 different reporters). Toobin says it was his understanding that the interview was for attribution. This sort of thing happens quite often - sometimes the result of genuine misunderstanding about an interview's ground rules, and sometimes because an interview subject gets cold feet. From the Fulton County Daily Report:
Nichols' defense team has been replaced and now comprises four private attorneys who have continually struggled for their own fees and funding for experts, investigators and transcripts. After the defense team ran up expenses of more than $1.2 million, the state agency responsible for funding their efforts pulled the plug, and Fuller stopped jury selection in October, saying Nichols could not be provided an adequate defense unless more money was forthcoming. Although the expenses were all approved by the Public Defender Standards Council, Fuller has been accused of allowing the case to get out of control, and has been pilloried by members of the General Assembly, where a House committee was appointed to investigate his handling of the case. In October, shortly after Fuller halted the trial, Fulton Superior Court Judge Craig L. Schwall circulated an e-mail to other Fulton judges calling Fuller a “fool,” and pondering what action the Fulton bench could take to have the judge removed.
|
|
| 03:22 PM Jan 31, 2008 | Email the Daily Dragon | Email this Article | Post Comments |
|
|
