Lockhart attorneys request right to amend plea

Defense attorneys for Courtney L. Lockhart requested the right to amend any of the not-guilty pleas entered Wednesday in Lee County Circuit Court, pending the results of a mental evaluation.

Lockhart, 23, of Smiths Station, pleaded not guilty to all four charges against him at his arraignment Wednesday afternoon, including three capital murder charges related to the March 4 death of Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk and a robbery charge stemming from a robbery at the Short Stop in Smiths Station.

Jeremy Armstrong, one of Lockhart’s attorneys, asked Lee County Circuit Court Judge Jacob A. Walker III to reserve the right to amend any of the pleas to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect after his client undergoes a mental evaluation by state professionals, as well as their own expert. Walker agreed.

Lockhart’s lead defense attorney Joel Collins said in court Wednesday, the evaluation, which was requested at the end of April, had not been completed. A gag order, also requested in April, was issued by District Court Judge Russell K. Bush within a week of the request.

The documents requesting the mental evaluation state that it is made in an effort to prove Lockhart is not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation will conduct the test, but court documents do not indicate when it will take place.

Lockhart remains in custody at the Lee County Detention Center. There is no bond issued for capital murder cases. Wednesday, he stood quietly between his attorneys while Walker read all four indictments.

More than a dozen of his family members and friends sat quietly in the courtroom behind him.

A grand jury indicted Lockhart in May on charges of capital murder during a robbery, capital murder during a kidnapping and capital murder during an attempted rape, as well as the separate robbery charge.

Walker said Lockhart’s presence is required for all future proceedings. He also said he will schedule a status conference, potentially for late December or early January, to inform the court how the case is proceeding.

Burk, an 18-year-old from Marietta, Ga., was found on North College Street between Lee Road 72 and U.S. Highway 280 shortly after 9 p.m. March 4. She was transported to East Alabama Medical Center, where she later died as a result of a single gunshot wound. Her car, a 2001 black Honda Civic, was found engulfed in flames about 9:30 p.m. in the Hinton Field parking lot on campus.

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