Trial for trooper's '05 killing delayed

VAN BUREN, Mo -- The murder trial of Lance Shockley, accused of killing state trooper Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. three years ago, is on hold again after Shockley's public defenders withdrew from the case Wednesday.

Judge David Evans granted a motion to withdraw after about an hourlong hearing in closed court in Carter County.

"The very likely effect of that is that we will not have a trial in August," Evans said.

The two sides were set to discuss pending motions, but Evans closed the courtroom before ruling on anything else and later ended proceedings for the day.

Shockley was scheduled to face trial Aug. 11 in the shooting death of Graham outside the trooper's home near Van Buren in 2005. Another delay would bring the case into its fourth year.

Evans said only that an issue came up concerning "confidential communications" that could put any trial verdict in jeopardy of being overturned on appeal. He ordered jury summonses for the August trial date to be stopped.

Evans said he's told attorneys in the case not to discuss the details and apologized for having to grant the motion. Special prosecutor Kevin Zoellner told the judge that Graham's family has a right to know why, and Evans invited him to file a trial brief on the matter.

Defense attorneys Jan Zembles and Thomas Marshall declined to comment, as did Zoellner.

The case now waits for the state public defender system to assign Shockley new attorneys. The system has three divisions, and new counsel will likely come from either the St. Louis or Kansas City offices. Marshall and Zembles are based in the third office in Columbia, Mo. A hearing date of Aug. 6 -- when jury selection was supposed to begin -- remains on the docket and could be used to review the case with Shockley's new attorneys.

Graham's father, Carl Graham Sr., said he thinks the move is a ploy to delay the trial.

"In my opinion, it's a way to get more time," he said.

In a June hearing, Zembles said her client was strongly opposed to postponing the trial, even though she asked the judge for a continuance to give the defense more preparation time. Zembles said at that time there was no animosity between her, Marshall and Shockley over the matter.

Zembles and Marshall were filing motions in the case as recently as July 2, according to court documents.

This would be the second time a scheduled trial date has been canceled. The trial was set to begin in January 2007 but was delayed after Cape Girardeau Judge William Syler recused himself.

Graham has filed a lawsuit against Shockley that he said has been on hold while the criminal case moves forward. Shockley is also facing a separate criminal charge in Howell County for allegedly assaulting another inmate while being held there.

The Shockley family had no comment outside the courtroom Wednesday.

bschraum@semissourian.com

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