May 10 GEORGIA: Prosecution seeks death penalty in courthouse shooting trial In Atlanta, prosecutors said Tuesday they will seek the death penalty in the state case against courthouse shooting suspect Brian G. Nichols. Superior Court Senior Judge Hilton M. Fuller set Nichols' arraignment for May 17. Last week, a Fulton County grand jury returned a 54-count indictment against Nichols that includes four charges of murder. Fuller also set June 9 and June 10 to hear defense motions, one of which seeks to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard from involvement in the case. During Tuesday's 45-minute proceeding, Nichols, dressed in a light-green suit coat and an open-necked shirt, sat next to his team of public defenders. Though his hands were free, his legs were shackled. Nichols did not speak to the judge during the hearing. When Nichols was asked if he wanted speak about the makeup of his defense team, Nichols' lead counsel said his client would not comment but was aware of his rights. Occasionally, Nichols whispered to his lawyer during the proceeding. On March 11, Nichols, 33, allegedly shot and killed Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and his court reporter inside the courtroom. Outside the courthouse, Nichols killed a sheriff's deputy and later killed a federal agent, police say. He was captured the next day. In addition to the four charges of murder, Nichols was also indicted on: 3 counts of aggravated assault on a police officer 18 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon 2 counts of aggravated battery 7 counts of kidnapping and kidnapping with bodily injury 7 counts of armed robbery 5 counts of robbery by force, theft by taking, escape and hijacking a motor vehicle. (source: CNN) INDIANA: Attorneys appeal death sentence----Say evidence withheld from jury Defense attorneys for an inmate scheduled for execution this month say he might not have been condemned if prosecutors had disclosed evidence that another person might have been at the murder scene. Gregory Johnson faces a May 25 execution date for the 1985 killing of 82-year-old Ruby Hutslar at her Anderson home during a burglary. Johnsons attorneys are pointing to a search warrant issued in 1986 that permitted police investigators to take hair from a friend of Johnsons and have it with compared with hair found on a glove believed to have been used by Hutslars killer. The hair from the scene did not match that of Johnson or the other man, authorities said. But attorneys for Johnson said that if prosecutors had disclosed the warrant before the trial, the defense could have raised the possibility of other suspects. "It's an issue that has not been reviewed by anybody because the prosecutors office so successfully and aggressively stonewalled it," defense attorney Linda Wagoner said. "While it wouldnt have changed the verdict of guilty, it raises at least a reasonable probability that he wouldnt have been sentenced to death." An investigator on the case, however, remains certain that Johnson is the man who stomped Hutslar to death and then set her house on fire. "There's no doubt in my mind he did that," said Ed Hanlon, a retired Anderson police detective. "He confessed to it, and he walked through it, and it matched exactly what the investigators at the scene were finding." The Indiana Parole Board is scheduled to meet May 16 at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City to hear from Johnson on his request for clemency, said Earl Coleman, the assistant for the parole board. A public hearing on his request is scheduled for May 20 in Indianapolis, with the board expected to vote later that day. Johnson attorney Michelle Kraus said the search warrants possible effect has not been reviewed by the courts because she missed a filing deadline by one day in August 2004. "Counsel bungled the job," the federal judges wrote in dismissing the appeal without addressing its merits. The search warrant only surfaced years after Johnsons trial as defense lawyers say it was filed under a different case number and contained no reference to Johnson or Hutslar. The state attorney generals office said the document was likely mislabeled by a file clerk. Steve Creason, a deputy state attorney general, said detectives thoroughly investigated Hutslars death and found no evidence that Johnsons friend was involved. (source: Associated Press)
