LITTLE ROCK — The state is required to subsidize defense expenses for a man accused of fatally shooting a soldier and wounding another outside a west Little Rock recruiting center, a Pulaski County Circuit judge ruled this morning.
The decision brought to a conclusion a pre-trial hearing that was briefly interrupted by an anonymous report of a weapon in the courtroom.
After testimony from accused killer Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, Judge Herb Wright ruled that the Memphis man was indigent and entitled to the funding despite being represented by a private attorney his parents hired. While on the stand, Muhammad told his attorney, Claiborne Ferguson, he had no financial means to pay for his defense on his own.
Didi Sallings, executive director of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, argued against the funding. Calling it a "dangerous precedent" that could be applied to other cases and lead to exorbitant costs, Sallings contended that Muhammad lost the right to the public money because he is not being represented by a public defender.
The ruling could open the door for similar requests in aggravated robbery, rape and other cases, she said.
"If this court says that I have to pay for Mr. Muhammad, this court is saying I have to pay for everybody else" as well, Sallings said.
Ferguson requested up to $30,000 to have the commission cover certain defense expenses. He told Wright the money would go to the "extraordinary expense of litigation and mitigation" and not attorney fees.
Ferguson objected when Sallings asked Muhammad's father, who also took the stand, how much he was paying the attorney for the case. A short recess followed and discussions then continued in judge's quarters.
The precise amount was never divulged publicly but Wright said later it was "not exorbitant."
Ferguson and the commission will work together to ensure the funds are objectively granted in a "reasonable amount for adequate representation," Wright said.
Shortly before Muhammad's hearing, the spectators were ordered out of the courtroom and were then searched with a hand-held metal detector before being allowed back inside. Pulaski County sheriff's office spokesman John Rehrauer said the action was prompted by an anonymous call that there was potentially a gun in the courtroom. No weapon was found.
Muhammad is charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder and 10 counts of unlawful discharge of a weapon in the June 1 shooting that killed Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway and wounded Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville outside a west Little Rock recruiting center. He told reporters in a jailhouse interview that he shot the men in retaliation for the way the U.S. military treats Muslims in the Middle East.
The case is scheduled to go to trial in June. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.