Public Defenders to Represent Cosby Suspect

Amid new reports of witnesses in the slaying of Ennis Cosby, a Los Angeles judge Thursday appointed two public defenders to represent Cosby’s accused killer after the 18-year-old’s private attorneys said their client could not afford them for the duration of a trial.

In agreeing to the change in attorneys, Superior Court Judge John Reid also delayed the arraignment of Mikail “Michael” Markhasev until May 13, when a grand jury indictment against him may be unsealed.

Markhasev, who appeared in court during Thursday’s brief proceedings, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he shot and killed the 27-year-old son of entertainer Bill Cosby on Jan. 16. The body of the younger Cosby, apparently slain during a bungled robbery attempt, was found in the Sepulveda Pass alongside his Mercedes-Benz.

Since his arrest, Markhasev has been represented by three private attorneys with the understanding that they would continue as his counsel only during the preliminary stages of the case because the defendant’s family could not afford the estimated $300,000 required to retain them through a trial that could last several months.

But after asking the judge to make them court-appointed attorneys for Markhasev, lawyers Charles Lindner, Darren Kavinoky and Dale Rubin withdrew that request.

With that, Reid appointed veteran criminal defense attorneys Henry Hall and Harriett Hawkins, both from the alternate public defender’s office, to represent Markhasev.

The change in attorneys came only hours after the latest news reports on alleged evidence in the case. Several news outlets, including The Times, reported Thursday that a young man and woman have told authorities that they were with Markhasev at the time of the shooting. The pair were arrested with Markhasev in March but released within hours.

In addition, two others have told authorities that they helped Markhasev in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve the gun used to kill Cosby. One of those witnesses, sources said, is believed to be the person who helped link Markhasev to the killing in an effort to claim a $100,000 reward offered by the National Enquirer for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Cosby’s killer.

The news reports come on the heels of previous disclosures that raised questions about the strength of the prosecution’s case: a key witness eliminating Markhasev as the man she saw confronting Cosby the night of the killing, and the inability of Los Angeles police to find any identifiable fingerprints on the purported murder weapon.

In aggregate, the disclosures have so heightened efforts to conceal evidence in the case that Reid on Thursday strongly reminded attorneys that they--and all principals in the case--are under a gag order not to discuss or release any evidence.

Shortly after his appointment as co-counsel for Markhasev, Hall said he was not ruling out any options in his efforts to ensure a fair trial for his defendant.

Meeting a phalanx of reporters outside the Criminal Courts Building, Hall said that the reports Thursday could limit the pool of potential jurors and lead him to seek a change of venue.

Hall said later in an interview that even though he had not yet reviewed the evidence, he was disturbed by the notion that allegations implicating Markhasev could be released despite a gag order.

“When I am finished reviewing the evidence, I may ask the judge to find out how this stuff got out,” Hall said.

Hall and his co-counsel declined to explain why the alternate public defender’s office was selected to represent Markhasev. But other sources in the legal community said it was because the public defender’s office had a potential conflict of interest because it is already representing, in another case, one of the Markhasev prosecution’s potential witnesses.

Although the district attorney’s office has previously accused Markhasev’s private defense attorneys of leaking information in the case, those attorneys on Thursday suggested that the new press reports proved that authorities are responsible for violating the gag order.

“If we were going to be foolish enough to violate the court’s order, we certainly wouldn’t have done it with this story,” attorney Kavinoky said of the reports that two associates of Markhasev allegedly witnessed the fatal shooting “to some extent.”

Rubin was more blunt. “If you want to know where the leak came from, go to the 18th floor [of the courthouse],” he said, referring to the offices of the district attorney.

District attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons categorically denied that anyone in the prosecutor’s office had violated the judge’s order not to release, or even discuss, the case.

But defense attorney Lindner, who had previously criticized the prosecution’s handling of alleged evidence in the case, continued to raise questions about a rush to judgment concerning Markhasev.

“From the moment I heard about his arrest, even before I was brought in as his attorney, I have had concerns about his ability to receive a fair trial,” Lindner said.