A Chattanooga man accused of killing his girlfriend alleged in court that the Hamilton County Jail is obstructing his pretrial preparations.
With Lawrence Goodine, 45, scheduled for a jury trial Aug. 17 on charges including first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, his defense attorney, Neal Pinkston, said Thursday the issues his client has with the jail are affecting his rights to representation, a fair trial and due process.
Law enforcement accused Goodine, who was fired as a Chattanooga police officer in 2007, of killing Kara Akins, 48, on Nov. 28, 2023. A Hamilton County medical examiner ruled her death a homicide by manual strangulation and blunt force head injury.
“I’m being handicapped,” Goodine said in testimony. “I’m being placed at a disadvantage, frankly.”
Pinkston said he’s received different explanations for how to send legal mail. He had raised what he said were ongoing concerns about undelivered and seized legal documents and missed attorney-client visits during an earlier April hearing.