Courthouse Shooter Back In Court

Amid heightened security, Brian Nichols returned on Friday to the Fulton County courthouse, where he is accused of shooting dead a judge and two other people last month.

Nichols was shackled at the ankles but not the wrists as he appeared at the courthouse for a hearing, the first time since he had been there since the March 11 slayings.

At the hearing, defense lawyers argued that they should be allowed to question potential grand jurors who will hear the case about their exposure to media coverage of the shootings.

Nichols listened intently, at times leaning over to talk with his attorney.

One of Nichols' attorneys, Josh Moore, also argued that testimony during the upcoming grand jury proceedings should be recorded. Prosecutors objected to both requests, arguing that the grand jury proceedings are confidential.

Nichols is accused of overpowering a deputy and stealing her gun, then killing Judge Rowland Barnes, who was presiding over Nichols' rape trial, and his court reporter. A sheriff's deputy was killed outside the courthouse, and a federal agent was killed elsewhere before Nichols was taken into custody the day after the rampage.

Three officers sat behind Nichols during the hearing, and another was next to the judge. Other law enforcement officers also attended the hearing, both in uniform and in street clothes.

It was not clear when Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller would rule on the motion.

Nichols, 33, is being held without bail on the rape charge, but has not been charged with the shootings. Prosecutors are waiting for a new grand jury to be impaneled on May 3. The current grand jury was sworn in by Barnes.

Friday's hearing took place in a first-floor courtroom of the Fulton County Courthouse complex in a tower connected to another tower that contains Barnes' courtroom.

"We support him 100 percent," Gene Nichols, the defendant's father, told The Associated Press.

When asked what he would like to see come out of the case, he said, "I'd like to see less young men get caught up in the system," an apparent reference to his son. He did not elaborate.