The state public defenders office says the total cost of defending Brian Nichols in the Fulton County Courthouse shootings could reach $2.4 million.
The projection by the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council would be six times the average cost of a death penalty case.
Mounting defense costs in the case had forced a judge to put off the trial until September 10th.
And a projection released by the public defender council shows that another $600,000 in fees and expenses could add to that total by the end of the trial, based on the trial lasting six months as expected.
Meanwhile, Nichols' lawyers have been preparing a mental health defense.
