UPDATE 3/24: At a motion hearing Monday, Raymond Perry's defense attorney requested $25,000 from Judge Mahan to hire an investigator and interview witnesses.
The defense believes most of the prosecutors witnesses consist of 'jailhouse snitches.'
Commonwealth's Attorney Stolle says they will no longer be seeking the death penalty, but will proceed with the rest of the charges because they feel they have sufficient evidence.
Stolle said they took the death penalty off the table because last week some witnesses lied in the case against Perry's former co-defendant Kareem Turner.
Judge Mahan granted the defense an additional $10,000.
The next motion hearing is set for April.
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VIRGINIA BEACH - Prosecutors say they'll pursue the death penalty in the trial of accused killer Raymond Perry.
But first, he'll need a new lawyer. Greg Turpin asked to be removed from the case because he's running for Va. Beach Commonwealth's Attorney. He was removed and there will be a hearing on January 30 to formally appoint someone else, said Commonwealth's Attorney Macie Pridgen.
Perry, 21, and 24-year-old Kareem Turner are charged in the October 2010 murder of Victor Decker, who was off duty when he attended a fundraising event at Atlantis nightclub on Oceana Blvd. Decker's body was found beside his truck on October 26.
During an October 2012 hearing, witnesses testified that Perry told them he robbed or shot Decker, or they saw him acting suspicious outside the gentleman's club that night, prosecutors said.
In an August jailhouse interview following his arrest in July, Perry told 13News he didn't kill Decker, that he didn't know him, had never met him, had never seen him before and wasn't at the club that night. Perry said he thought perhaps inmates were giving police false information in hopes of getting reduced time behind bars.
Perry is charged with capital murder, 1st degree, robbery and two counts of use of firearm. Turner is charged with second degree murder and has a preliminary hearing set for March 14.
