HAMILTON – Butler County Commons Pleas Court Judge Gregory Howard has approved Gurpreet Singh’s request to be considered indigent, for “the limited purposes of hiring experts to aid in his defense.”
Singh is accused of the shooting deaths of his father-in-law, Haikikat Singh Panang, 59, his mother-in-law Parmjit Kaur, 62, his wife Shalinderjit Kaur, 39, and Parmjit’s sister, Amarjit Kaur, 58. Singh told police he found the four relatives shot to death in the family’s West Chester apartment on April 28, 2019.
He was arrested on Aug. 1, 2019, and has been denied bond twice.
In July, Singh’s lead attorney, Neal Schuett of Rittgers & Rittgers, filed a motion requesting a hearing to declare his client indigent. Schuett said that Singh has been incarcerated for more than two years in the Butler County jail and has not been working.
“He does not have any further funds or assets for continuing prosecution to hire experts. This is a service for the trial phase and the mitigation phase,” said Schuett, adding that they are not seeking any additional funds for the defense team.
The defense filed several documents which included bank statements, affidavits, and closing statements on Singh’s property in Indianapolis. There is an email from Singh’s family in Connecticut to the Rittgers & Rittgers law firm, confirming that they had paid $250,000 for him.
A licensed private investigator ran a credit check on Singh, who signed an affidavit saying that he does not, have the financial means to pay the fees for investigative and expert services.
In September, Howard heard arguments from the defense and prosecutors. The state opposed the defense’s motion pointing out that Singh hired high-profile and expensive attorneys before he was arrested.
Prosecutors said that Singh owned a trucking business which was valued from $75,000 to $175,000, had $75,052.31 in one of his bank accounts and his home in Indianapolis was worth $330,180. They said Singh did not explain “what happened to any of these considerable assets.”
Schuett said that the house and trucking company were sold. And all monies were depleted. Singh, a father of three children, now has $270 in his bank account, his attorney said.
Schuett argued that the state chose to make this a death penalty case and the experts they are asking to hire are necessary for Singh’s defense. The defense has hired an attorney in India to obtain documents and intends to hire an investigator, a psychologist, and a mitigation expert
Howard agreed. He wrote in his ruling that, “…indigent defendants are entitled to receive the "raw materials" and the "basic tools of an adequate defense.”
He said that “defense counsel has been compensated very well,’ but he also noted that prior precedents state that it is “entirely conceivable that a defendant may be indigent for one purpose but not the other.”
Howard’s ruling contains caveats: The court “is not going to provide defense counsel with a blank check.” His ruling also stipulates "The defendant isn't entitled to the best experts that money can buy. Only those that are competent and can assist in the defense of his case. He will have the experts that the court would appoint for any other indigent defendant." Singh’s attorneys must also seek the court’s approval in hiring the experts and detailing why they are essential to Singh’s defense in a separate hearing.
Howard’s ruling got mixed reviews from his and his wife’s family.
Ajaib Singh, the older brother of Paramjit and Amarjit Kaur, said he was surprised by the ruling and accused Gurpreet Singh of not being truthful and hiding assets.
Singh’s family in Connecticut said the ruling means he can hire experts to prove his innocence and they were “relieved," maintaining no one has enough money saved up to fight a capital case and pointing out Singh has been unable to work while he has been in jail awaiting trial.
Singh's trial has been rescheduled three times. It is now set for Oct. 3, 2022.
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