ATLANTA
The man accused of a courthouse shooting rampage that left four people dead
pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity as his trial began Thursday, more than
three years after prosecutors say Brian Nichols confessed in the killings.
Defense attorney Henderson Hill entered the plea for Nichols a day after
filing a motion claiming that Nichols was insane and couldn't tell "right from
wrong" during the killings.
Even Nichols' defense team has conceded he killed a judge, court reporter and
sheriff's deputy at the county courthouse in downtown Atlanta on March 11, 2005,
and a federal agent later that day.
But the trial has faced a series of complications that have alternately
astonished and outraged a community trying to close the books on the shootings
that turned Fulton County's seat of justice into a crime scene.
Lawmakers outraged at a state-funded defense bill of at least $1.8 million
have threatened to cut more funding. Nichols has been accused of plotting an
escape. Defense attorneys claim a prosecutor committed crimes of her own. And
the district attorney sued the presiding judge, who later stepped down.
New Judge James Bodiford has vowed to keep the case on track, and he rebuffed
an attempt by Nichols' attorneys Thursday to delay the case further. He also
instructed the legal teams on the arduous process of selecting 12 impartial
jurors from a pool of hundreds of county residents.
Legal experts say finding a fair jury to decide one of the most notorious
cases in modern Atlanta history could be the trickiest task. Dozens of potential
jurors were expected to be screened by prosecutors and defense attorneys
throughout the day.
The trial could last for months. As many as 600 witnesses could be called,
and written evidence runs to the thousands of pages.
Prosecutors say Nichols was being escorted to a courtroom in the Fulton
County Courthouse when he beat a deputy guarding him, stole her gun and went on
a shooting spree.
He is accused of killing four people: Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes,
court reporter Julie Ann Brandau, Sheriff's Deputy Hoyt Teasley and federal
agent David Wilhelm. Nichols surrendered the next day after allegedly holding a
woman hostage in her suburban Atlanta home.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press
