The defense attorney for Nathaniel Pridemore, the man accused of assaulting four correctional officers during his murder trial, had a motion to withdraw from the case as Pridemore’s defense attorney denied by a judge.
This comes after Pridemore filed his own motion aiming to withdraw a guilty plea for the aforementioned assault charges.
Pridemore was on trial after being accused of fatally shooting 19-year-old Cash Gaudio and 36-year-old Christina Hamilton when he assaulted four correctional officers.
Pridemore was not in court on Monday but instead appeared by video call. He told the judge that - during the trial for the assault charges - he changed his plea to guilty mid-trial.
He claims that he was pressured into the guilty plea by “other forces” telling him to be truthful.
“The judge asked Pridemore, Did your attorney put the pressure on you to enter these pleas of guilty?” Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Bethany Harrison said. " Pridemore indicated no, something about some people telling him or some forces or something about he needed to tell the truth, and so he entered the pleas of guilty.”
After Pridemore filed his motion his defense attorney reached out to the Virginia State Bar, claiming there was a conflict.
When the judge ruled that there was no conflict, a separate motion was made.
“Because Pridemore said that he was hearing voices that were telling him to plead guilty, the defense attorney moved to have a competency evaluation to make sure that he understands what’s going on at trial,” Harrison said.
Harrison says that Pridemore has already passed one competency evaluation, but multiple evaluations can be ordered, which can be lengthy.
“It could take about 60 days to have the competency evaluation done, and that is based on the evaluator’s schedule of when he can get into the jail to evaluate the defendant," Harrison said. “After that, depending on the results, determines how much longer the case takes.”
Harrison said that Pridemore’s sentencing for the assault charges has been pushed back from Nov. 19 to a Dec. 1 docket call.
His murder trial is set for March, but that could change if he is found not competent.