Condemned killer John Albert Taylor will find out Oct. 22 whether he will be granted a new trial.
Second District Judge Michael Glasmann on Friday concluded two days of testimony from Taylor's former attorneys defending their handling of Taylor's case.They were accused by Taylor's current lawyers, Ed Brass and Mike Petro, of mismanaging the case.
Taylor himself testified Friday that he was entitled to a new trial because his former lawyer, Don Redd, was in favor of the death penalty and told Taylor that he had been justly convicted.
Taylor was sentenced to die by lethal injection for the 1989 rape and murder of 11-year-old Carla King of Washington Terrace.
Taylor has admitted that he burglarized the apartment in which the girl was found strangled. His fingerprints were found on the telephone from which the cord had been cut, but Taylor has denied the killing.
At his trial, then 2nd District Judge David Roth labeled Taylor's testimony "incredible." Roth heard the evidence and determined the sentence without a jury.
Redd has been criticized for allowing Taylor to testify, but said Thursday that Taylor insisted. Redd acknowledged that Taylor's trial testimony "hurt him badly."