Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 10, 2006 22:31:18 GMT -5
Judge removes attorney
Judge Charles Sandoval, of the 380th District Court, removed 25-year-old
Kosoul Chanthakoummane's court-appointed attorney because of lack of
qualification guidelines on capital murder cases, court officials said.
Attorney David Kleckner, of Dallas, who met with Chanthakoummane for
almost an hour after he was arrested Tuesday night for the capital murder
of 40-year-old real estate agent Sarah Anne Walker, was dropped Thursday
by Sandoval.
Lt. John Norton, of the Collin County Sheriff's Office, said Friday they
are waiting to see if Chanthakoummane will hire his own attorney in the
next couple days. If not, the court will appoint another attorney for him.
According to the Texas Fair Defense Act, judges are required to appoint 2
attorneys as 1st and 2nd chair counsel to a defendant facing the death
penalty. Both attorneys have to meet several criteria regarding experience
in trying death penalty cases.
The 1st chair attorney appointed to a death penalty case must have at
least 5 years of experience litigating "serious felony matters" and
experience in 1 capital case, tried cases to a verdict as lead defense
counsel in a significant number of felony cases, trial experience in the
use of mental health or forensic expert witnesses, and participated in
continuing education courses or training in criminal defense in death
penalty cases within the previous year. They also must have completed a
minimum of 12 hours of training over the previous 2 years.
The 2nd chair attorney appointed to death penalty cases must have at least
two years experience in representing defendants with felonies and
completed an eight-hour minimum of continuing legal education courses or
training related to criminal defense in death penalty cases over the
previous 2 years.
The specific reasons for Kleckner's removal from the case are not known.
Attempts were made to reach Kleckner but he could not be reached by
presstime.
Police obtained a capital murder arrest and search warrant Tuesday for
Chanthakoummane from the 219th District Court and arrested him at 11 p.m.
Tuesday in north Dallas. Norton said he is being held in the Collin County
Detention Center on a charge of capital murder and a $1 million bond.
McKinney police Capt. Randy Roland said they were able to obtain the
warrant by presenting forensic evidence and information obtained from
witnesses who recognized Chanthakoummane from a composite drawing.
Documents obtained from the 219th District Court show Assistant District
Attorney Christopher Milner filed a motion to seal the affidavits for the
search and arrest warrants.
Roland described the evidence against Chanthakoummane as a "composite of a
lot of things."
"There's forensic evidence at the scene, witness statements that have
drawn to a tee what he looks like and additional witness statements from
people who knew the suspect and knew his name," Roland said. "Then [we]
looked at his criminal history. All of those pieces started to funnel in
one direction and we're absolutely confident that he committed this
crime."
He declined to discuss specific details about the forensic evidence over
concerns that defense attorneys might try to move the trial out of Collin
County.
"If we move the trial to Amarillo or El Paso, there's going to be a huge
amount of cost to bring this guy to justice and we're going to get a
different jury pool," Roland said.
Chanthakoummane also has a parole violation felony filed against him by
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Parole Division after he was
released on Feb. 19, 2006, by the North Carolina Department of Corrections
on a "post-released supervision" where he moved his supervision to Texas
so he could live with his sister in Carrollton.
Chanthakoummane is charged with the capital murder of Walker, who was
found dead on July 8 lying face down in the kitchen of a model home in the
5700 block of Conch Train, where she worked as a real estate sales
representative for D.R. Horton. Dr. William Rohr, Collin County medical
examiner, said Walker was stabbed 27 times with a sharp-bladed instrument,
with wounds on her upper body, arms and hands, some of which were
defensive wounds indicating she tried to fight off her attacker.
(source: McKinney Courier-Gazette)
Judge Charles Sandoval, of the 380th District Court, removed 25-year-old
Kosoul Chanthakoummane's court-appointed attorney because of lack of
qualification guidelines on capital murder cases, court officials said.
Attorney David Kleckner, of Dallas, who met with Chanthakoummane for
almost an hour after he was arrested Tuesday night for the capital murder
of 40-year-old real estate agent Sarah Anne Walker, was dropped Thursday
by Sandoval.
Lt. John Norton, of the Collin County Sheriff's Office, said Friday they
are waiting to see if Chanthakoummane will hire his own attorney in the
next couple days. If not, the court will appoint another attorney for him.
According to the Texas Fair Defense Act, judges are required to appoint 2
attorneys as 1st and 2nd chair counsel to a defendant facing the death
penalty. Both attorneys have to meet several criteria regarding experience
in trying death penalty cases.
The 1st chair attorney appointed to a death penalty case must have at
least 5 years of experience litigating "serious felony matters" and
experience in 1 capital case, tried cases to a verdict as lead defense
counsel in a significant number of felony cases, trial experience in the
use of mental health or forensic expert witnesses, and participated in
continuing education courses or training in criminal defense in death
penalty cases within the previous year. They also must have completed a
minimum of 12 hours of training over the previous 2 years.
The 2nd chair attorney appointed to death penalty cases must have at least
two years experience in representing defendants with felonies and
completed an eight-hour minimum of continuing legal education courses or
training related to criminal defense in death penalty cases over the
previous 2 years.
The specific reasons for Kleckner's removal from the case are not known.
Attempts were made to reach Kleckner but he could not be reached by
presstime.
Police obtained a capital murder arrest and search warrant Tuesday for
Chanthakoummane from the 219th District Court and arrested him at 11 p.m.
Tuesday in north Dallas. Norton said he is being held in the Collin County
Detention Center on a charge of capital murder and a $1 million bond.
McKinney police Capt. Randy Roland said they were able to obtain the
warrant by presenting forensic evidence and information obtained from
witnesses who recognized Chanthakoummane from a composite drawing.
Documents obtained from the 219th District Court show Assistant District
Attorney Christopher Milner filed a motion to seal the affidavits for the
search and arrest warrants.
Roland described the evidence against Chanthakoummane as a "composite of a
lot of things."
"There's forensic evidence at the scene, witness statements that have
drawn to a tee what he looks like and additional witness statements from
people who knew the suspect and knew his name," Roland said. "Then [we]
looked at his criminal history. All of those pieces started to funnel in
one direction and we're absolutely confident that he committed this
crime."
He declined to discuss specific details about the forensic evidence over
concerns that defense attorneys might try to move the trial out of Collin
County.
"If we move the trial to Amarillo or El Paso, there's going to be a huge
amount of cost to bring this guy to justice and we're going to get a
different jury pool," Roland said.
Chanthakoummane also has a parole violation felony filed against him by
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Parole Division after he was
released on Feb. 19, 2006, by the North Carolina Department of Corrections
on a "post-released supervision" where he moved his supervision to Texas
so he could live with his sister in Carrollton.
Chanthakoummane is charged with the capital murder of Walker, who was
found dead on July 8 lying face down in the kitchen of a model home in the
5700 block of Conch Train, where she worked as a real estate sales
representative for D.R. Horton. Dr. William Rohr, Collin County medical
examiner, said Walker was stabbed 27 times with a sharp-bladed instrument,
with wounds on her upper body, arms and hands, some of which were
defensive wounds indicating she tried to fight off her attacker.
(source: McKinney Courier-Gazette)