Prosecutors could have scaled down their case against Brian Nichols without compromising it, said Hilton Fuller, a retired state Superior Court judge from suburban Atlanta.
The Nichols trial should be used to shine a light on how the prosecution's case affects the cost of an adequate defense in death penalty cases, Fuller told an American Bar Association panel on capital cases.
"There's a relationship between what the prosecution spends and what the defense needs," Fuller said.
Prosecutors presented a 54-count indictment, including four murders, for crimes that took place at 13 separate crime scenes, and they identified 487 witnesses, Fuller said.
Defense lawyers have an obligation to investigate what those witnesses would say at trial, Fuller said.
But when state money to the defense team was cut off amid controversy over its $1.8 million bill and a state budget crunch, "that investigation simply is not going to happen," Fuller said. "Prosecutors could have proceeded with one or two counts. Ten witnesses could prove that case."
Fuller suspended the trial indefinitely when the money was cut off. He was harshly criticized by state lawmakers and others for his handling of the case. He stepped down in January after he was quoted in The New Yorker magazine saying "everyone in the world knows he did it."
State lawmakers approved new measures this year to ban senior judges such as Fuller - who do not face re-election - from hearing death penalty cases. They also tightened the public defender system's budget.
Fuller said political pressure in a capital case is intense and rarely works in a defendant's favor. Yet judges have to ensure a fair proceeding, no matter how unpopular, he said.
"I was doing my job and I would do the same things again," he said.
Nichols is charged with killing a judge, court reporter, sheriff's deputy and federal agent on March 11, 2005, in a spree that began at the county courthouse in downtown Atlanta. Nichols' defense team has conceded that Nichols did the killings. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have said they plan to argue that Nichols was insane.
Lawyers are in the midst of picking a jury pool, which they hope to complete before the end of August.
With a lengthy trial to follow and appeals sure to come after that, the case "will be pending for the rest of my lifetime," Fuller said.
A message left Saturday with the office of District Attorney Paul Howard was not immediately returned.
Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller presides over a hearing for Brian Nichols in this Oct. 4 file photo (Zachary D. Porter/AP)
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