ORLANDO, Fla. – A judge has for the second time in less than a month denied accused double murder Markeith Loyd's request for a new prosecutor in his case, court records show.
Judge Frederick Lauten issued a ruling Monday denying Loyd's request, saying that Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Brad King has not been privy to any confidential information that would disqualify him from the case.
In late June, Lauten denied Loyd's first request to have King removed from his two first-degree murder trials, one in connection with the death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon and another in connection with the fatal shooting of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton.
At that same court hearing, Lauten did approve Loyd's request to have attorney Roger Weeden removed as his counsel because Weeden has never tried a case that resulted in a first-degree murder conviction.
Loyd has previously asked to be represented by Miami based attorney Terence Lenamon, who Weeden claimed is already familiar with the case.
"I think that it would help facilitate the case if Mr. Lenamon was appointed to the case because he has met with us at the jail," Weeden said. "If they are interested in having this case move along smoothly then Mr. Lenamon should be the appointed lead counsel on the case."
Lauten said that he would choose Loyd's new attorney after expressing concerns over an indigent defendant hand-picking his own attorney. That decision could be announced when Loyd appears in court at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
At a hearing last month, Lauten acknowledged that new court dates will need to be established once he appoints new counsel.
“I think inevitably this means the trial in September is not likely to happen, and so I’m going to give some thought to it and invite some response from appointed counsel to whether we can move the September trial to the January trial date, and then just set new trial dates for the January trial, on when that might be,” Lauten said.
Loyd was scheduled to go to trial in September in connection with the death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, and then in January he was to be tried on charges related to the fatal shooting of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton.
Tuesday's hearing will be streamed in the media player above.
Check back for more details on this developing story.