Two weeks before death-penalty trial, Brandon Conner needs state-paid defense, attorneys say
Two weeks before he’s to go to trial in Columbus’ only pending death-penalty case, Brandon David Conner no longer can pay his private attorneys and needs a state capital defender to represent him, his attorneys told Judge William Rumer during a Monday hearing.
Defense attorney Mark Shelnutt told the court Conner has had no income since his arrest in 2014. Both his parents were working when they hired Shelnutt and partner William Kendrick four years ago, but Conner’s father since has died, depriving the family of that income, Shelnutt said.
Conner’s mother still is working, in Texas, but she can’t afford to take on the legal expenses alone, so Conner will need an indigent defense team, Shelnutt told Rumer: “He is no longer capable of funding any more of his defense.”
Attending Monday’s hearing was Jerry Word, director of the Georgia Public Defender Council’s Office of the Capital Defender, which represents indigent defendants facing the death penalty.
“I am prepared to assign a team,” he said of Conner’s defense. Shelnutt still may be involved, but he can’t be the lead defense attorney once the capital defender takes over, Word said.
“The only thing we ask is sufficient time to prepare the case properly,” Word told Rumer.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly said bringing in a new defense team will delay the case beyond the scheduled Oct. 1 trial date.
Prosecutors tried in the beginning to ensure Conner would be able to keep his private representation: They put off holding an initial court hearing for a month just to see whether Shelnutt and Kendrick would continue as Conner’s attorneys, Kelly said.
“This is going to put a long delay in the case,” he told Rumer. “There’s just no other way around it.”
Kendrick said he and Shelnutt have to deal with circumstances they could not have foreseen in 2014: “The financial circumstances for Mr. Conner have changed, and changed drastically.”
After hearing briefly from both sides, Rumer had the prosecutors and public leave the courtroom so he could speak privately with Word, Shelnutt, Kendrick and Conner.
The judge and defense had to have a closed-door conference because discussing how to proceed could reveal the defendant’s trial strategy, which prosecutors otherwise would not be privy to, as the defense has no obligation to weaken its position by revealing that before the trial.
They conferred only for a few minutes, after which Rumer said he would issue a ruling on the matter within a few days.
Attorneys said a death-penalty trial can cost the defendant up to $300,000, depending on the case.
Shelnutt and Kendrick last sought to postpone the trial Aug. 17, saying they had not received crucial discovery evidence related to quality control and other administrative procedures at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab conducting DNA tests for the prosecution.
The prosecution, led by District Attorney Julia Slater with assistance from Kelly and Assistant District Attorney Wesley Lambertus, argued the information the defense sought was not covered under the law governing pretrial discovery, and must be obtained by other means, such an open-records request.
Rumer heard arguments on that motion Aug. 21, and issued an order denying the defense request Aug. 31.
The homicides
Conner, 39, is accused of fatally stabbing girlfriend Rosella “Mandy” Mitchell, 32, and killing their 6-month-old son Dylan Ethan Conner before setting their 1324 Winifred Lane home afire on Aug. 21, 2014.
The fire was reported at 12:35 a.m. About 30 minutes later, Officer Jason Swails saw Conner’s blue 2001 BMW turn from Wynnton Road onto Cedar Avenue in midtown as Conner parked near Davis Broadcasting, where he worked. Conner then sat in the car for 10 minutes, the officer said.
Because of recent business burglaries in the area, Swails questioned Conner and saw the suspect was shaking and sweating, and apparently had blood on him, the officer said.
Conner told Swails he had just left work, which Swails didn’t believe because he’d seen Conner turn off Wynnton Road and park. Conner then altered his story, claiming he’d left work to get some food, but changed his mind and returned, Swails said.
Swails arrested Conner for breaking a city law against lying to police. Because police routinely search suspects being detained, officers checked Conner’s pockets, and found a bloody, yellow dishwashing glove, a bloody baby wipe, a cigarette lighter and an extended grill lighter.
Learning of the bodies found on Winifred Lane, police had Conner’s BMW impounded, and got a warrant to search it. Inside they found a bag of bloody clothes, a bottle of bleach and a bent steak knife with blood on the handle, they said.
Arson investigators searched the burned home with a dog that alerted to flammable liquids poured in three places. They also found a gas can stored in a closet. An autopsy revealed Mitchell was stabbed multiple times in the throat and torso. Authorities have not said how the infant died.
On April 14, 2015, a grand jury indicted Conner for murder, aggravated battery, first-degree arson and using a knife to commit a crime. Six days later, Slater filed notice she would seek the death penalty.
Conner’s is the second case in which she has sought the death penalty since taking office in 2009. The first was the fatal shooting of local radio disc jockey Heath Jackson during a burglary at his Carter Avenue home on Sept. 7, 2010.
In May 2013, defendant Ricardo Strozier pleaded guilty to Jackson’s homicide and a string of related crimes. Judge Gil McBride sentenced him to life in prison without parole.