Trial date set in Lockhart murder case

Just more than a year after his arrest, a trial date has been set in the capital murder case of Courtney L. Lockhart — a trial his attorney said could take two weeks.

At a status hearing in Lee County Circuit Court Tuesday, Judge Jacob A. Walker III set Lockhart’s trial for March 29, 2010.

District Attorney Nick Abbett asked for a trial date for the sake of the victim’s family.

Walker asked how long each side thought a trial might take. Abbett said he expected at least a week. Defense attorney Jeremy Armstrong of Phenix City said he thought it would take two.

Lockhart entered the courtroom wearing slacks, a light pink button-up shirt and handcuffs and did not speak.

Several of Lockhart’s family members sat in the front row behind him. They declined to comment after the hearing.

Walker will hear motions May 20 and motions to suppress evidence and for a change of venue Aug. 24.

Armstrong confirmed after the hearing that he and defense attorney Joel Collins had filed a motion for a change of venue, which would move the trial’s location. Before Walker sealed the case file and issued a gag order last year, Armstrong said his office intended to ask for a change of venue because of the wide media coverage the case had received.

Walker banned cameras and recording devices from the courtroom Tuesday.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Armstrong handed Walker an index of pre-trial motions the defense had filed. Armstrong declined after the hearing to discuss what the motions were or how many he had filed. Both he and Abbett declined to comment Tuesday, citing the gag order preventing anyone involved in the case to discuss it publicly.

Lockhart, 24, of Smiths Station, is charged with capital murder during a robbery, capital murder during an attempted rape and capital murder during a kidnapping in the March 4, 2008, death of Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk.