One of two defendants charged in a 2005 capital murder case in Freestone county was appointed a new lawyer when it was determined that his previous counsel stated that he was no longer interested in defending his client.

A status hearing was conducted in 87th district court last week for James Harnage, charged with capital murder in the 2005 death of Freestone county ranch owner Dennis Courtney.

Co-defendant Oscar Doster appeared in court in late March requesting a trial date, which was set for July 19 by 87th District Judge Deborah Evans.

Harnage is in no hurry to go to trial, but prosecutor Wesley Mau of the Attorney General’s Office says that he needs to complete negotiation with Harnage before Doster’s trial begins.

Those negotiations need to be done with Harnage represented by a lawyer.

“We have some negotiations we would like to have,” Mau says.

The negotiations are to work out a plea bargain in exchange for Harnage testifying against Doster.

Harnage has mailed letters to the prosecution and judge asking that he be appointed a new attorney, and his attorney, Billy Carter of Bryan, filed a motion this week to be taken off the case.

Carter was not in court last week because he had started jury selection in a capital murder trial in another county.

“I’ve been here two and one-half years. He won’t say anything, or tell me anything,” Harnage says. “I have not seen him for 19 months.”

“I have no idea what’s going on, period,” the defendant adds.

Judge Evans initially hesitated about appointing a new attorney because it could delay court proceedings as new counsel got up to speed.

After brief consideration, the judge excused herself from the courtroom to contact an attorney in Palestine, Steve Evans (no relation), who agreed to take Harnage’s case. Evans is certified as a capital murder defense attorney.

The judge pointed out that Harnage is housed in the Anderson county jail, which should make it convenient for the attorney, who practices law in Anderson, and defendant to meet.

The two defendants were escapees from a jail in Andalusia, Ala., at the time Courtney was found murdered April 6, 2005, at his ranch in east Freestone county.

A couple of weeks after the murder was discovered, Doster was arrested in California after wrecking on a 4-wheeler reportedly taken from the Freestone county ranch, and Harnage was arrested in Las Vegas, Nev., allegedly in possession of Courtney’s pickup truck.

Doster has since been sentenced to death in Alabama in a case in which he escaped jail and committed a murder.

The two men were indicted on capital murder charges in Freestone county in 2007. Reasons for the delay in seeking an indictment given by then-District Attorney Keith Meredith were to allow Doster’s capital murder trial in Alabama to conclude and to postpone the start of the Texas speedy trial calendar.

Hearings on motions to free Doster and Harnage from the Texas charges have been heard in various courts—-most recently the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled against Doster in his argument that the Interstate Act on Detainers had been violated.

Under the act, Doster’s attorneys argued that he had not been brought to trial in a timely manner.

The Court of Criminal Appeals ruling is currently being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.