The attorney for a Lawrence carpenter and community leader charged with murdering his wife said Thursday he planned to challenge autopsy results by hiring an independent forensic expert.

But because of the attorneys’ scheduling conflicts, it will be 2005 before the state is required to lay out its evidence in the case against Martin K. “Marty” Miller.

Miller, 45, a carpenter and former chairman of Veritas Christian School’s board of directors, faces one count of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Mary E. Miller, 46. She died July 28 at the family’s home at 2105 Carolina St.

A coroner’s autopsy, which ruled Mary Miller died of asphyxia caused by compression of the neck, will be one of the key pieces of evidence, along with statements by the couple’s children that they heard their mother scream that night. Police initially said the death didn’t appear suspicious but arrested Marty Miller after the coroner ruled it a homicide.

Part of the reason for the delay in setting Miller’s preliminary hearing is that Mark Manna, the public defender brought in from Topeka, is busy with a capital-murder case in Independence, Kan., through December.

Manna told Judge Paula Martin he needed at least five weeks to prepare for Miller’s hearing.

“In a perfect world, I’d like to wait until the first of next year,” he said.

The judge set the hearing for Jan. 5.

Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney, who said she’d hoped to have the preliminary hearing sometime this month, said evidence would take at least five hours to present.

A preliminary hearing gives a defense attorney the chance to cross-examine the state’s witnesses before a case goes to trial. Prosecutors must lay out enough evidence to convince a judge there’s probable cause for the defendant to stand trial.

Miller is free on $150,000 cash bond, but conditions of the bond prevent him from having contact with any witnesses in the case, including his children. He asked for permission to have supervised visits with the children and attend church, but Martin said she would allow it only as permitted by a juvenile judge who’s handling the children’s welfare — and only after the preliminary hearing.

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