Nichols Trial to Resume on July 10

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Jury selection for the Brian Nichols trial resumes July 10th. Today, Cobb County Judge James Bodiford said he plans to have the trial finished by Christmas.

July 10th falls between the start dates that the state and Nichols' defense team had asked for. The state wanted to start on June 16th. Nichols' defense preferred September 8th.

But even after Nichols' attorney Henderson Hill objected strenuously to Bodiford's chosen date, the judge was unmoved:

BODIFORD: We're gonna start on July 10, and by that time everybody will be satisfied with that. I know you're not satisfied with that now, and I'm not asking you to be.

Bodiford told the lawyers that they will be working 6-day weeks for most of the 6 months that he's allocated for the trial.

The case had been suspended in October, under the previous judge, Hilton Fuller.

Nichols is charged with killing four people in a shooting rampage that began at the Fulton County Courthouse, in March of 2005.