The Clayton County man accused of shooting a south Fulton County church prayer leader last month avoided a third court hearing Friday morning.
Floyd Palmer is accused of killing Greg McDowell on Oct. 24 as McDowell led morning prayer service at World Changers Church International near College Park.
McDowell, 34, was actually praying when he was shot, witnesses said, and never saw the man who allegedly killed him.
Police arrested the 52-year-old Palmer later that day at Lenox Square Mall.
A preliminary hearing scheduled for Palmer was delayed Friday because Palmer’s family retained private attorneys to represent him in place of the public defender he was initially assigned.
Drew Findling said he and Marissa Goldberg were able to meet with their new client for the first time on Thursday, and negotiated a reset for Palmer’s preliminary or probable cause hearing.
Findling said there are questions about Palmer’s mental health.
“Obviously, you know his history,” Findling told reporters outside the courtroom. “It’s an issue that has to be explored.”
Palmer served 18 months at a mental health facility after pleading guilty in 2004 to assault after being accused of attempted murder for shooting a man he argued with outside a Baltimore mosque in 2002.
Findling said it’s too soon to say whether he would attempt to have Palmer ruled incompetent for trial, but said “We’ve got to determine whether that’s an issue. How do we not address that?”
Palmer is scheduled to appear before Fulton County Court Superior Judge Karen Smith Woodson for a status hearing on Nov. 29.
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