BRUNSWICK, Ga. --- David Edenfield will be the first in his family to stand trial for the sexual abuse slaying of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr.
But unless the General Assembly bails out the state's public defense system, Mr. Edenfield's death penalty trial could be delayed even longer than the year or two it routinely takes for capital cases.
"The bottom line is the General Assembly will decide when this case will be tried," Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett responded Monday when Mr. Edenfield's attorneys complained they couldn't properly prepare his defense because there is no money to hire an investigator or expert witnesses.
Mr. Edenfield and his attorneys were in court Monday trying to persuade the judge to throw out nine search warrants that led police to evidence implicating him; his wife, Peggy Edenfield; and their son, George Edenfield, in the March 8 killing of the Glynn County kindergarten student. They also want a change of venue. They contend Mr. Edenfield cannot get a fair trial in Glynn County because of hostile public sentiment and the extensive news coverage of Christopher's abduction and killing.
Mr. Edenfield, 58, Mrs. Edenfield, 57, and George Edenfield, 31, each face the death penalty if convicted of malice murder in Christopher's death.
They have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed without bail at the Glynn County Detention Center pending separate trials.
James Yancey Jr., Mr. Edenfield's lead attorney, told the judge Monday that he hasn't been paid and doesn't know when he will be compensated by the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council in the case.
By law, the public defenders council provides money to pay defense lawyers, investigators and expert witnesses representing poor people in criminal cases statewide.
The council has said it is broke because it has spent about $1.5 million defending Brian Nichols, the man accused of the Atlanta courthouse shootings.
Sgt. Ray Sarro of the Glynn County Police Department testified how Mr. Edenfield became a suspect in Christopher's disappearance and about searches of his home, car and other property.
Christopher had been last seen playing with a toy truck and a Star Wars light saber. Police searching for him the night of March 8 saw the light saber lying about three feet from the Edenfields' mobile home, which was on a path between the homes of Christopher's grandmother and his father, Sgt. Sarro testified.
George Edenfield said he was told to hurt Christopher, Sgt. Sarro said.
"I asked who told him, and he said 'The devil,' " Sgt. Sarro testified. "I thought right then that the victim was dead."
Judge Scarlett deferred ruling on the change of venue. He gave the attorneys 30 days to collect newspaper articles, tapes of television and radio broadcasts and other evidence about coverage of the case.
Mr. Edenfield's next pre-trial hearing regarding evidence will be after the first of the year, Judge Scarlett told the attorneys.
No pre-trial hearings have been scheduled for Mrs. Edenfield, court records showed.
All proceedings against George Edenfield have been put on hold until a special civil trial determines if he is mentally competent to stand trial.
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