A civilian lawyer officially took over as lead defense counsel Friday for the court martial of Charles David Garner, the Army soldier accused of murder and conspiracy in the 1990 slaying of his estranged wife.
Though not present at the pre-trial motions hearing Friday morning at Ft. Sheridan, Charles Peterson had previously arranged his appointment with the trial judge, Lt. Col. Andrew Chwalibog.
After approving the switch in attorneys, Chwalibog tentatively set the start of the trial for the first week of March. It is expected to last two weeks.
Until Friday, Garner had been represented by two Army defense attorneys, Captains Deborah Hooper and Ed Harriman. They will stay on as co-counsels, according to Peterson.
A former Army captain who served four years as a military defense attorney, Peterson is now a partner in a law firm in Boise, Idaho.
He was retained by the Garner family on recommendation from a national group that serves as a watchdog of the military justice system.
Garner, a 25-year-old Army specialist, is accused of hiring an Army buddy to kill his 28-year-old estranged wife, Catherine. According to police, Army Spec. Kevin Miller has admitted fatally shooting the woman as she returned from a trick-or-treat outing with her son on Halloween night 1990.
Miller, 21, is being held in Cook County Jail on $2 million bond pending trial in state court. Garner is being held with no bond in the brig at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center.
