As frustrations mount over repeated delays in the Brian Nichols trial, the statewide public defender system will ask a judge Friday afternoon to remove a private attorney from Nichols' defense team.

The Nichols defense team has already billed almost $2 million in legal fees and expenses. The total is expected to rise once the lengthy trial begins for the man accused of killing four people as he escaped custody in the Fulton County Courthouse almost three years ago. Trial Judge Hilton Fuller has repeatedly delayed the Nichols trial because the defender council has said it has no more money to pay for Nichols' defense.

The lawyers can come up with quotes like this .....

"Lawyers aren't fungible."

.... while billing the county $85 to $125 an hour.