Brandi GiannunzioDuring a Wednesday hearing before Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman, Chattanooga attorney Hilary Hodgkins asked the court to excuse her from representing Brandi Giannunzio, saying she no longer wanted to be on the case.
"I feel like it would not be ethical for me to continue," Hodgkins told the court.
Giannunzio, 30, was the babysitter for 2-year-old Annie Burkett Shell, a Hixson toddler who died Aug. 9, 2018, after Giannunzio left the toddler with her fiance, Benjamin Brown, while she went to the Do or Dye Salon in Soddy-Daisy for a few hours.
Brown was arrested and charged with murder in connection to the child's death at their Soddy-Daisy home. After a six-day trial, a jury found Brown guilty in February of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment in Shell's death. He was ordered to serve, consecutively, two years in prison, followed by an 11 months and 29 days sentence in a workhouse.
Hodgkins told the court she had not heard of her client's unhappiness with her representation until July 1 and later again in a motion to substitute counsel filed by Giannunzio's new attorney, Brandy Spurgin.
"She has made arrangements to have Brandy Spurgin represent her," Hodgkins told the court. "She has made it clear that she didn't want me to represent her, and I don't want to continue being on the case."
When Steelman asked how Hodgkins was informed of Giannunzio's decision to fire her as counsel, Hodgkins said she was verbally informed.
"She told me that she does not want me to be her attorney," Hodgkins said. "I didn't feel the need for her to put that in writing."
Steelman questioned if there were any conflicts in having Spurgin - who represents Brown in a custody case and also testified as a character witness for the defense during Brown's trial - represent Giannunzio. Spurgin said she didn't believe there would be any conflict because she represents Brown in unrelated cases.
Spurgin also told the court Wednesday that she did not know the details of the case before the Brown trial.
Executive Assistant District Attorney Cameron Williams requested that a trial date be set for July 25. Steelman agreed to the date after Williams, who was lead prosecutor during the Brown trial and has been the lead attorney for the state on the Giannunzio case, told the court he may not be with the District Attorney's Office in August.
Spurgin objected to the trial date, saying she felt her client would be forced into a trial she wasn't ready for.
Steelman said Giannunzio was not being forced into a trial at short notice, stating that the case has been pending for quite some time. Steelman added Giannunzio was scheduled to enter a guilty plea in a May 27 hearing but instead chose to change counsel.
"Your objection is noted and overruled," Steelman said, adding that Spurgin had plenty of time to prepare for the trial.
Giannunzio is out on bond pending trial on one count of false reporting of a felony, which carries a sentence of two to 12 years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines, should she be found guilty, and two counts of accessory after the fact, a felony that carries a sentence of one to six years in prison and up to $3,000 in fines, should she be found guilty.
Giannunzio told Hamilton County EMS and Soddy-Daisy investigators she was at the house when Annie hit her head in the bathroom.
Surveillance video of Giannunzio at the Do or Dye hair salon in Soddy-Daisy was played for the jury, and text exchanges between Giannunzio and Brown were read during Brown's trial in February.
James Metcalfe, director for the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's Office, determined that Shell's cause of death was blunt force trauma to the chest and head, likely caused by someone shaking her and punching her. While forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who was hired by the defense, disagreed, saying Shell's injuries could not be accurately determined.
In one of the text messages, Giannunzio told Brown, "She fell in the bathroom and hit her head," while she was at Erlanger hospital.
Brown responded, "OK."
Soddy-Daisy Police Detective Jake Elrod said there was too much misinformation between Giannunzio and Brown to make a quick arrest in the case. However, he testified in court that he did have his suspicions about the pair.
The Shell family was present at the Wednesday hearing but did not offer any comment.
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.