photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Steven A. Drake

A Lawrence man charged with first-degree murder and vehicular homicide now wants to delay his next court appearance, after last week raising concerns about how slowly the case was moving.

Steven A. Drake III, 22, objected to his last defense attorney’s Aug. 12 motion to withdraw from his case, largely because the case has dragged on for nearly two years. But on Tuesday, Drake requested the judge push out his next hearing to 90 days away.

Drake is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 19, 2017 shooting death of Bryce A. Holladay, 26. He is also charged with vehicular homicide in a Nov. 6, 2016 car accident that killed Taylor B. Lister, 24, of Lecompton.

Through his new appointed attorney, Carol Cline, Drake told the judge Tuesday that his family is now considering hiring counsel. He asked the judge to postpone his next status conference to allow time to make that decision.

Judge Kay Huff initially proposed Oct. 15, but Drake requested even more time, and they settled on 2 p.m. Oct. 29 for his next hearing — about 70 days from Tuesday. Huff said that by that time, Drake and his family should at least be able to determine whether they want to hire an attorney, even if they haven’t actually hired someone yet.

Angela Keck, who was representing Drake in both cases, moved to withdraw as his attorney on Aug. 12, citing a conflict of interest. No one elaborated on the nature of the conflict in open court, but Huff said she was inclined to grant Keck’s motion. Huff asked Drake if he would like to discuss the issue, and he said he would.

After discussing it for a few minutes in the privacy of the jury deliberation room, the judge said Drake understood the conflict, but he was upset about the time that had passed in the case and the further delay that this would cause.

The case had most recently been set to go to jury trial starting Aug. 19, though the trial has been scheduled and continued multiple times. A new date has not been set.

On Dec. 27, 2018, Drake “absolutely” rejected a plea deal that would have resolved the two pending cases against him and a third, in which he has since pleaded and been sentenced, the Journal-World has reported.