ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday on whether taxpayers should cover portions of the legal defense for a man facing trial in the 2005 slaying of a high school teacher whose disappearance remained a mystery for more than a decade.
Ryan Duke had been scheduled to stand trial on murder charges in April 2019 in the killing of teacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead. The COVID-19 pandemic that’s shuttered courtrooms statewide has contributed to the long delay. But it’s rooted in an ongoing dispute over whether Duke is entitled to state funding.
Duke’s attorneys asked the Georgia Supreme Court to overrule the trial judge, who twice has refused to provide the defense team with funding for expert witnesses in DNA, false confessions and psychology. Duke’s lawyers argue he won’t get a fair trial without them.
Tift Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Bill Reinhardt has ruled Duke gave up any claim to state money when he declined legal representation from public defenders in favor of private attorneys who took his case for free.
The Supreme Court didn’t rule on Duke’s request Tuesday. WMAZ-TV reported that two of the justices indicated questions about which defendants are entitled to taxpayer funding may be better suited for state lawmakers than for judges tasked with interpreting existing law.