Michael Brandon Townsend

DALTON, Ga. — Superior Court Judge Scott Minter has denied a motion by Michael Brandon Townsend that District Attorney Bert Poston be recused from the prosecution of Townsend for the murder of two women whom Townsend lived with.

Townsend, 40, faces four counts of murder, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated battery for the deaths of Krystal Spainhour, 44, and her mother Judy Potts, 72. The three lived together at 234 Tanglewood Drive N.E., off of Cleveland Highway. The women died on Jan. 10. Minter’s order denying the motion indicates that Townsend will be putting forth an insanity defense.

Townsend, represented by Blake Skipper with the Public Defender’s Office, had argued that because Poston interviewed him at the jail 48 hours after the alleged crimes that Poston is a “necessary witness.”

“The … motion seeks to disqualify Mr. Poston as lead prosecutor, and by implication, the entire Whitfield County District Attorney’s Office, because of his potential conflict as a necessary witness,” Minter wrote in the order.

“Defense asserts that Mr. Poston has unique evidence of the defendant’s mental state, as it relates to the defendant’s affirmative insanity defense,” Minter wrote in the order. “Defendant contends that Mr. Poston is a necessary witness because he interviewed defendant at the jail 48 hours after the alleged crime occurred. Defendant was acting pro se at the time and claims the interview’s purpose was to glean information regarding his state of mind during the homicides.” Pro se means without an attorney.

The interview was recorded and played at the hearing.

“The video shows defendant discussing various procedural matters with Mr. Poston and detectives from Whitfield County law enforcement,” Minter wrote. “The interview did not discuss the events surrounding the homicide, but defendant did make statements about previous mental health treatment for his depression. Defendant claims these discussions made Mr. Poston a necessary witness to the defendant’s state of mind as it relates to his culpable intent during the crime.”

“The court disagrees,” the order states. “Mr. Poston is not a necessary witness because other witnesses would provide the same facts.”

“Generally, an attorney may not act as a witness and an advocate in a trial where he is likely to be a ‘necessary witness,'” Minter wrote, defining “necessary witness” as “a witness whose testimony is ‘relevant to disputed, material questions of fact and (where there) is no other evidence available to prove those facts,'” quoting a Court of Appeals of Georgia opinion.

“The court should not disqualify a prosecuting attorney as a necessary witness if other witnesses can provide the same facts at issue,” Minter wrote. “This includes attorneys who perform interviews in a prosecution.”

“The court finds Mr. Poston is not a necessary witness because other witnesses or evidence can provide the same lay testimony or establish the same facts regarding the defendant’s state of mind,” Minter wrote. “Most noteworthy to the court being: 1) the detectives who interviewed the defendant and observed his disposition and were present during the district attorney’s conversation with the defendant; 2) psychiatrist or other expert who may form opinion as to defendant’s mental state from reports of others; and 3) video recordings of the district attorney’s conversation with the defendant.”

Poston said in May that prosecutors and the defense had failed to reach a plea deal.

Townsend called 911 on Jan. 10 and told an operator, “I just lost my mind … ” He told the operator he had choked both women.

According to the indictments, Townsend caused the deaths of Spainhour and Potts each “by strangling her, striking and stomping her repeatedly in the face and upper torso …” In the assault indictments, Townsend is accused of using “his hand on and applied pressure to her throat …” on both women.

The aggravated battery indictments say with respect to Spainhour, Townsend “caused bodily harm … by seriously disfiguring her body when he punched and stomped on her face and upper torso and cut her throat …” With respect to Potts, he “caused bodily harm … by seriously disfiguring her body when he punched and stomped on her face and upper torso, cut her throat and stabbed her in the throat and torso …”

Townsend is next scheduled in court on Aug. 26 for calendar call with jury selection for trial to begin on Sept. 9.

Messages left for Poston and Public Defender Natalie Glaser were not immediately returned.