LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The attorney for a man accused of killing two teenage brothers says his client spat on him in a holding cell, insulted him and threatened him in court.
News outlets report that attorney Brendan McLeod withdrew from defending 25-year-old Brice Rhodes in a Louisville courtroom Tuesday. McLeod told the judge that his friendship with the grandfather of the victims presented a conflict of interest.
McLeod says Rhodes spat on him in a holding cell prior to the hearing when he explained the conflict. During the hearing, Rhodes called his attorney a “coward.”
Rhodes has been charged with fatally stabbing 16-year-old Maurice Gordon and 14-year-old Larry Ordway in Shawnee last month. Authorities say Rhodes dumped their bodies behind an abandoned house and tried to set them on fire.