Defendant in beauty queen's murder trial claims attorney fell asleep in court

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Brevard County man who could be put to death for the alleged murder of a beauty queen took on his own attorney in court Wednesday.

A few deputies said they saw Vahtiece Kirkman’s attorney fall asleep in the court room Tuesday, while another attorney said she didn’t see anything.

Kirkman said it’s his life on the line and reminded the judge prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in his case.

“It is what it is. I’m the one that got to live with this. Not you, not my attorney, not the news people, not my family,” said Kirkman.

Kirkman is on trial for his role in the death of Darice Knowles. %

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Prosecutors said the former beauty queen from the Bahamas was kidnapped and encased in concrete while she was still alive. The encasement was left in a wooded area of Cocoa.

Her ex-boyfriend, Christopher Pratt, who was also accused in the killing from 10 years ago, has already taken a plea deal.

Kirkman is already serving a life sentence for a robbery-related shooting death in 2006.

Usual proceedings were placed on hold Wednesday morning as Kirkman urged a judge to review courtroom cameras, claiming his attorney fell asleep Tuesday as the jury was listening to jail calls.

“I ain’t the smartest person in the world, but I got to watch my surroundings, because it’s my life. You know what I’m saying?” said Kirkman.

A judge called several deputies to the stand, asking them what they observed.

“What did you see? Rather than what appeared and dozing off, what do you mean by that?” said the judge.

“Eyes closed, and it looked like he was asleep,” said the deputy.

Another deputy testified the attorney had his eyes closed, but another deputy said she didn’t see him sleeping.

However she said she was paying more attention to the entire room, and not just counsel.

Kirkman’s attorney took the stand and said he wasn’t feeling well, and only shut his eyes for 30 seconds or so.

“I had a bad headache yesterday afternoon, and I did close my eyes trying to relieve the headache,” the attorney said.

The judge will review the courtroom cameras and decide.

After the court proceedings about the attorney who may have fallen asleep, a forensic photographer testified about the bones she photographed.

“There was duct tape around what would have been the mouth area and her spine extended down, and her hands were located up with her wrist crosses and duct taped,” the photographer said.

She added detectives had to dig a few feet to get to the remains.

The jury was shown photos where the bones were found in concrete.

Cox Media Group