Fayette

County's latest death penalty case unofficially

got underway Monday morning as a hearing was

conducted in Superior Court regarding a man

charged with a drug-related murder last spring.

The

trial is expected to take place sometime next

summer before Judge Christopher Edwards.

Carl

Bryan Hodge faces charges of two counts of felony

murder, one count of murder, two counts of

aggravated assault, three counts of firearm

possession during the commission of a crime, and

one count each of arson and concealing the death

of another.

He

was arrested in early May after the death of

Adolf Stubbs, who was found in a burned sport

utility vehicle April 1 in north Fayette County.

Stubbs had a bullet wound to the head.

Authorities

said at the time that they believed the killing

was the result of a dispute between partners in a

drug deal. The investigation took local law

enforcement officials as far as New York City.

Edwards

presided over Monday's hearing, with district

attorney William McBroom and assistant DA Tom

Woodward representing the state. Hodge is being

represented by Michael Martin.

Hodge

retained Martin during the early stages of his

incarceration, and Martin is now his

court-appointed counsel on the basis of his

inability to hire an attorney. When asked on the

record by Edwards, Hodge said that he had no

objection to keeping Martin as his attorney.

This

would be the fourth death penalty case to go to

trial in the past two years that Martin is

involved in. He is currently working on two other

such cases, one of which is on appeal and another

for which a trial is set to start soon in Clayton

County.

McBroom

stated for the record at the hearing that he had

officially filed a written notice of his intent

to seek the death penalty in the case.

During

a discussion of discovery matters pertaining to

the case, Martin said that he would likely be

challenging the arrays of the grand jury and

traverse jury, although he had no statistics as

yet from the jury commissioner. He added that

Hodge's arrest was without a warrant, and he

would challenge some statements Hodge made after

his arrest.

The

search of Hodge's home, which was done with a

search warrant, would be challenged, as would any

other searches that may have been done on Hodge's

behalf, Martin said.

The

subject of bail will not be addressed, according

to Martin. Hodge has been held in the Fulton

County Jail since his arrest, although he will be

moved to the Fayette County Jail as a result of

some discussion and an agreement between all

parties at the hearing.

Martin

is not certain how he will address Hodge's mental

condition, and McBroom stipulated that if any

expert testifies for the defense in that regard,

he wants a written report from that expert on his

findings in advance. Martin said that would not

be a problem.

Edwards,

who has a three-week medical malpractice trial

scheduled for January in Upson County, conferred

with the attorneys for both sides on possible

dates to continue the proceedings. They agreed to

have the arraignment Monday, Jan. 24, at 9 a.m.

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