Campbell’s preliminary hearing delayed after counsel withdraws

Published 5:08 pm Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The preliminary hearing for a woman accused of shooting and killing one of her sons was postponed Tuesday.

Ann Campbell was scheduled to appear Tuesday in district court before Judge Rhonda Hardesty, but the hearing has been rescheduled to Aug. 9, said C.J. Robinson, deputy district attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit.

Campbell’s initial counsel in the case, David Hay, submitted a notice of withdrawal Monday, according to Circuit Court Clerk Glenn McGriff, leaving her without representation at the scheduled hearing.

Hardesty has scheduled a hearing on July 19 for Hay’s withdrawal, and until the hearing Hay officially remains part of Campbell’s defense.

The court on Tuesday appointed attorneys David Karn and Michael Askew to her case, and the two men were granted a continuance because of their newness to the case.

Campbell, who remains in Chilton County Jail, was charged with murder and attempted murder after a shooting June 3 in the Enterprise community left one of her sons, Michael Campbell, dead and his older brother wounded.

In the preliminary hearing, Campbell can either challenge whether law enforcement officers had reason to arrest her or accept that the case will go before a grand jury.