Defendant Michael Crumpton appears in Judge Bob Moon's courtroom in this file photo.A Sessions Court judge has moved the hearing for a 49-year-old man charged in the beating and strangulation death of a 42-year-old woman in the Emma Wheeler public housing complex.
Judge Bob Moon moved the court date Tuesday at the request of Michael Crumpton's attorney, Wendy Stanfield, who was appointed to the case on June 14.
"I know I would not want to go to court with an attorney on a homicide charge that attorney had had for only five days," Moon said.
The preliminary hearing date was rescheduled for July 6.
Witnesses told police they heard a woman screaming at the housing complex on June 7, telling Crumpton to stop. Then some said they heard glass breaking.
Witnesses said they saw Crumpton run out of Virginia Godwin's apartment.
A medical examiner's report found grapefruit-sized bruises on Godwin's head and evidence of strangulation.
Crumpton served more than 17 years in federal prison on weapons-related charges, according to records.