A new lawyer will be assigned to the Hopkinsville man charged with three felonies, including two counts of attempted murder from a September 2020 incident.
Rick Sanborn, attorney for Brian Ellis, said Thursday afternoon in Christian County Circuit Court, his client wants to drop Alford pleas in the cases.
An Alford plea is when the defendant does not admit to committing the crime but admits there is enough evidence to find them guilty.
Sanborn said in doing so, they are asking for a date for an evidentiary hearing.
Judge John Atkins said Ellis would need a new attorney, as Sanborn will be unable to represent him in these cases.
Ellis told Judge Atkins he has a lawyer he has been in communication with, but until she officially takes over the case, the Commonwealth will continue to represent him.
The case was continued until Wednesday, February 3.
Ellis had previously claimed he had COVID-19 a few weeks ago but said he provided paperwork of a negative test result to the Christian County Jail when he was arrested Monday. He was arrested on failure to appear warrants Monday after not making it to court on time with his COVID-19 test results. Ellis claimed he was running behind because of a train in downtown Hopkinsville, which made him 15 minutes late. Judge Atkins set a $100,000 bond on those charges.
Ellis is charged with two counts of attempted murder, six counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, and multiple drug charges connected to a September 1 incident on Dawson Springs Road. Christian County sheriff’s deputies said he shot a gun at a home twice and then shot a car on Hart Road. Deputies said they determined Ellis was involved in both shootings, and he was arrested shortly thereafter on Wallace Avenue.
Ellis is also charged with first-degree wanton endangerment of a police officer, first-degree fleeing from police, and failure to yield in a separate case. His third felony case involves drug charges and a third-degree criminal mischief charge.
