Atlanta District Attorney files lawsuit against Nichols' judge
More weird developments in the Brian Nichols saga this week. On Friday, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard served Judge Fuller with a lawsuit seeking his removal from the Brian Nichols' death penalty case. Howard apparently also wants to remove Nichols' defense attorneys. It's an unprecedented move, and unlikely to be effective. The petition was filed with the Georgia Supreme Court and there is no guarantee the Court will even consider it.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story. The local National Public Radio affiliate in Atlanta (WABE 90.1) is also following the Nichols case. Yesterday, I was interviewed on WABE and provided some commentary in their coverage of the DA's lawsuit.
I have never heard of a judge being forced off of a case because the prosecutor doesn't like the way he is handling the trial. If the Court allows this to happen, it will set a very dangerous precedent. Maybe the removal of Judge Fuller is what Howard has in mind. Perhaps he just wants to publicly add his voice to the growing chorus of voices asking Judge Fuller to either move things along or step aside and let someone else do it. Although Fuller has his defenders (and his reputation is certainly impeccable), I have not heard anyone publicly or privately applaud his handling of this case. Most people (including most of the prosecutors, judges and criminal defense lawyers I know) agree that this case has cost too much and taken too long.
But Howard's suit is unlikely to help. While I can understand Howard's frustrations, his office shares some of the blame for the delays and escalating costs to Georgia taxpayers. This case could have been resolved many months ago if the DA had not insisted on a long and expensive death penalty prosecution. Nichols' defense lawyers had indicated Nichols would have accepted a plea to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But that wasn't good enough, so the case drags on...
Of course, it's not all Howard's fault either. The defense lawyers in this case have been spending money like crazy. I am not involved in Nichols' case, so I have no idea what they've been spending all that money on. But I can't imagine ever telling a judge that I could not proceed with a trial after I've been paid close to $2 million.
Hopefully, everyone involved in this case will soon put aside their differences and get this case tried. The defendant certainly deserves a fair trial, but let's try to save at least a little bit of money for the thousands of other people in Georgia who need court-appointed counsel. Most of whom can't afford $500 for a lawyer, much less $2 million.
