The judge presiding over the case of an Allen County man charged in the 2015 murder of a young girl has dismissed his defense lawyer from the case.
At a pre-trial hearing Tuesday, Attorney Travis Lock requested that his client Timothy Madden be declared indigent, and therefore, entitled to money from the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. Lock has been representing Madden pro bono for a year, but he argued the state funds were needed to hire expert witnesses.
Allen Circuit Court Judge Janet Crocker said taxpayers couldn’t, by law, subsidize a private defense. Crocker disqualified Lock from the case and said that Madden would have to be represented from this point on by a public defender.
Lock said he hoped to handle the case from start to finish, but understood the judge’s ruling.
"I can't say that I'm tremendously shocked. What happened today was an example of the court following the law as it is currently written," Madden told WKU Public Radio.
Madden is charged with kidnapping, raping, and murdering seven-year-old Gabbi Doolin of Scottsville in November 2015. Following the judge’s ruling, Doolin's famility was visibly angry and left the courtroom before the hearing was finished.
The change in attorneys essentially resets the two-and-a-half year old case, which means the death penalty trial won’t begin July 23 as originally scheduled.
