This is flabbergasting:

A judge on Wednesday suspended the murder trial of a man accused in a 2005 courthouse killing spree because of problems the state has had funding his defense. Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller said the funding situation forced him to postpone the questioning of potential jurors in Brian Nichols' case until September 10. The questioning already had been delayed once because of defense funding problems.

Good for the judge, who rejected the prosecutor's predictable claim that the defense had spent enough money already.

The Georgia Public Defender Standard's Council is seeking more money from the state to make up for a budget shortfall. The state House on Tuesday approved a budget that includes the money, but it still needs Senate approval and the governor's signature.

Mike Mears, the council's director, said Tuesday that since final approval of the money may not come until April or May, his office recently told private attorneys assigned to indigent conflict cases that the council will not be able to pay their fee requests for two to three months.