A judge will hear arguments from the team of attorneys representing Casey White seeking to delay his felony murder trial.

Lauderdale County Circuit Judge Benjamin Graves on Wednesday set a hearing for Feb. 16 on the issue of postponing the felony murder trial in connection with White’s escape from jail last April and the death of corrections officer Vicky White.

Related: Read full coverage of Casey White escape

Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton has said he believes Vicky White facilitated Casey White’s escape from the jail in Florence, which led to an 11-day manhunt before Casey White was captured in Indiana.

Casey White’s attorneys, led by Huntsville’s Mark McDaniel, filed a motion Wednesday asking for the felony murder trial to be delayed. The same group of attorneys is also representing White in his capital murder trial scheduled for June 12 in connection with the 2015 slaying of Connie Ridgeway of Rogersville. The motion said the defense team has been preparing for the capital murder trial for six months under the belief that it would take place before the felony murder trial.

The lawyers said they will be prepared for the June trial but not the April trial.

The judge set the trial dates Dec. 20.

Casey White, of course, is already serving what’s essentially a life sentence for a crime spree in Limestone County in 2015. White in 2019 was been sentenced to 75 years in prison for, among other charges, attempted murder and first-degree robbery.

In 2020, White was charged with capital murder in connection with Ridgeway’s death.

The felony murder charge resulted from the death of Vicky White, who took her own life as police in Indiana moved in to capture them. Casey White was charged with Vicky White’s murder because her death took place in the commission of a felony, Lauderdale County District Attorney Chris Connolly said in announcing the indictment last July.