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Money talks Carruth's legal fees could reach $1 million
Posted: Saturday December 25, 1999 03:11 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Rae Carruth, faced with a death penalty trial, likely will run up legal bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and perhaps nearly $1 million, a lawyer says. "A six-figure fee would not be surprising in any stretch of the imagination," said Joe Cheshire, a Raleigh lawyer and chairman of the North Carolina Bar Association's criminal justice section. "There is no question there's greater cost to a high-profile case." But Carruth's mother said her son doesn't have much money to defend himself against first-degree murder charges in the killing of Cherica Adams, The Charlotte Observer reported Friday. "It's very expensive," Theodry Carruth said. "I'm not prepared for it." It is hard to say exactly how much the former Carolina Panthers receiver's defense would cost, since most North Carolina death-penalty cases involve indigent defendants. The court appoints two attorneys for such defendants. These lawyers are typically paid $50,000 to $70,000, Chapel Hill lawyer Bill Massengale, a former prosecutor, said. Carruth, who is being held without bond in Mecklenburg Jail Central, has fired Charlotte defense attorneys George Laughrun and Harold Bender, replacing them with lawyers David Rudolf of Chapel Hill and Ken Spaulding of Durham. Laughrun and Bender have been paid, Laughrun said. The lawyers' fees in high-profile murder cases don't include the costs of jury consultants and forensic experts, which could also run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Cheshire said. According to a 1993 Duke University study, death penalty cases are so expensive because they take longer at every stage and require vast resources for both sides. The study found trial costs were about $200,000 more for death penalty cases than noncapital murder trials. Cheshire said costs rise in high-profile cases because prosecutors and police spare no expense in finding witnesses and experts and in conducting forensics tests. If the defendant hopes to win, he'll have to match the prosecution's team, Cheshire said. "I don't mean to make it sound tacky," Cheshire said. "Does it matter how much money you have to spend? Sure it does. All money does in criminal cases is level the playing field with the government." Adams, 24, was shot four times while driving in Charlotte Nov. 16, and died last week at Carolinas Medical Center. She was 30 weeks pregnant, and doctors delivered the baby by emergency Caesarean section. Adams' relatives, who are seeking custody of the baby, have won a temporary court order freezing Carruth's assets. Carruth, who is believed to be the father, has indicated he wants to support the baby, Chancellor Lee Adams, but he needs money for his criminal defense. He also pays at least $3,500 a month in child support for another young son in California. Carruth received a $1.3 million signing bonus when he joined the Panthers in 1997. His contract called for him to make $38,382 per week until the Panthers released him last week. His base salary for this season was to be $652,500. At a previous bond hearing, his lawyers said he "does not have significant assets" because the IRS took about 40 percent of the signing bonus and his sports agent took another 10 percent. Carruth also paid off his mother's Sacramento, Calif., home and made payments on a $234,000 home in Charlotte. When asked how the family would pay legal fees, Theodry Carruth said neither she nor her son has any income, but friends are chipping in. "I have friends from California who know Rae and believe in Rae and have sent $5, $10, whatever they can," she said. "They don't look at this as a defense fund for Rae. They're helping me. They're helping me to help my son."
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