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Don Samuel: Trial should be moved
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If shooting suspect Brian Nichols is formally charged with murder, as expected, in Fulton County, his trial should be held somewhere else, a prominent Atlanta criminal defense attorney said.
“They need to move this case out of Fulton County and get a judge from out of Fulton County,” defense attorney Don Samuel said. Because Nichols allegedly killed Fulton Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, all of Barnes’ colleagues must recuse themselves from the case, he said.
Not only will there be enormous problems selecting an impartial jury because of pre-trial publicity, Samuel said, it also will be extremely difficult trying Nichols in the same courthouse with bailiffs who were colleagues of slain Sgt. Hoyt Teasley and Cynthia Hall, the deputy Nichols allegedly pistol-whipped. Samuel, emphasizing he was not being critical of anyone’s motives at the Fulton courthouse, said the case should be moved out of Atlanta to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
“The appearance is important as the process,” Samuel said. “That’s why we have a criminal justice system instead of vigilante justice.”
Samuel also questioned whether Fulton District Attorney Paul Howard should step aside and let another DA try the case, citing allegations that Nichols also was targeting the Fulton prosecutor who was trying him on rape and violent crime charges. “If I were giving Paul Howard advice, I’d say: Consider yourself a victim and let another DA try the case.”
Similarly, if Nichols is indicted on federal charges for killing slain U. S. immigration and customs agent David Wilhelm, this case also should be moved out of Atlanta, perhaps out of Georgia, to try and get an impartial jury, Samuel said.
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