Lawyer's hospitalization leads to Muncie murder trial postponement

Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press
·2 min read

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man's murder trial, set to begin on Monday, was postponed after an Indianapolis attorney — who had failed in repeated bids to withdraw from the case — sent word he had been hospitalized.

Jason De'Andre Harris, 33, had been scheduled set to stand trial on counts of murder, criminal confinement, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, obstruction of justice and theft.

He is accused of fatally shooting Erik Sparks, a 28-year-old Muncie man, on the Cardinal Greenway last Feb. 7.

Approximately 75 prospective jurors had arrived at the Delaware County Justice Center on Monday when Delaware Circuit Court 5 Judge Thomas Cannon Jr. was forced to cancel the proceedings after receiving notice that defense attorney Mark Nicholson had been admitted to Roudebush VA Hospital in Indianapolis for "urgent medical care."

The judge had earlier rejected several motions by Nicholson to withdraw from the case.

More:Judge refuses to allow defense attorney to leave Muncie murder case

While Nicholson insisted there had been a "breakdown in the attorney-client relationship" with Harris, Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman maintained that conflict appeared to involve payment — or the failure to pay — attorney fees.

After the trial was postponed on Monday, Hoffman filed a motion for "proof of hospitalization."

The prosecutor said the "record in this case is littered with numerous attempts from defense counsel to try to delay this trial."

"Based on everything that has happened this far in this case, the state has absolutely no confidence whatsoever that defense counsel's hospitalization on the morning of trial is legitimate," Hoffman wrote.

The prosecutor said if Nicholson's hospitalization was "simply a delay tactic," he believed the conduct would be "contemptuous."

As he has in earlier filings, Hoffman noted that a relative of the slaying victim was terminally ill, and that a delay in the proceedings could prevent that person from seeing the case resolved.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie murder trial postponed due to lawyer's hospitalization