Precious Doe defendant in court

? The man accused of killing a 3-year-old girl once known only as “Precious Doe” appeared in court Friday and discussed motions he had filed seeking more access to his lawyers and additional jail recreation time.

Harrell Johnson, 28, of Muskogee, Okla., is charged with first-degree murder in the 2001 death of Erica Green.

The girl’s decapitated body, and later her head, were found in a wooded area of Kansas City. If convicted, Johnson faces the death penalty.

He appeared in court Friday with his attorney, Kenton Hall, for a status hearing, but he also wanted to discuss the motions he had filed the night before, without his lawyers’ knowledge.

Hall reviewed the documents in court and agreed to allow the judge to hear them.

Johnson told Jackson County Circuit Judge John Torrence that Hall’s office wasn’t accepting calls from the jail’s phone service and his requests to talk with his attorneys were being denied.

During Friday’s hearing, the judge scheduled an evidence suppression hearing for Sept. 12.