Hearing delayed in mattress case; defendant needs new lawyer
.JPG "Doug and Debbie London were killed in their Lake Wylie home in October to keep him from testifying against three men accused of trying to rob the couple’s mattress store on South Boulevard in Charlotte.")
The suspects in an attempted robbery tied to the murder of a Charlotte business couple have had their federal court appearance delayed until to May 15.
By that time David Lee Fudge may have his next lawyer.
The 21-year-old Charlotte man is one of three defendants facing federal charges in the attempted robbery of a South Boulevard mattress company in May.
The owners of the store, Doug and Debbie London of Lake Wylie, S.C., were gunned down in their home last October to keep Doug London from testifying against Fudge, Nana Adoma and Jamell Cureton, a Mecklenburg prosecutor said last month.
Two others have been charged with the killings.
Fudge, Adoma and Cureton face federal robbery and firearms charges in connection with the attempted robbery of the Wholesale Mattress Warehouse. Cureton was wounded during gunplay with Doug London. The three were to be in court Thursday for a scheduling hearing leading up to their trial. That was delayed this week because of a time conflict with one of the trio’s attorneys.
Fudge, described in court documents as a high-ranking member of United Blood Nation, an East Coast criminal gang with strong ties to Charlotte, has gone through three court-appointed lawyers since being charged Nov. 18.
The latest, Mekka Jeffers-Nelson, left last week. He joins Kenneth Snow and Rahwa Gebre-Egziabher, who also withdrew.
Fudge’s fourth attorney will be selected by U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn, who took over the case from colleague Frank Whitney after Whitney’s photo was found in Cureton’s cell during an FBI search in January.
Gordon: 704-358-5095
This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Hearing delayed in mattress case; defendant needs new lawyer."