COLUMBIA, S.C. — The man charged with killing University of South Carolina student Samantha Josephson has requested a new lawyer.
Nathaniel Rowland asked Judge Clifton Newman for new representation during a break in jury selection Monday. Newman seemed surprised by the request and opposed to the sudden change so late in the case.
Later in the afternoon, Rowland backed off the request and said he would keep his counsel. Rowland is represented by the public defender's office, which is paid for by the state of South Carolina.
Monday was the first day of the trial for Rowland, who's charged with murder and kidnapping in the March 29, 2019 killing of Josephson, a junior political science major at the university.
Over 750 people were called to the Richland County Judicial Center in downtown Columbia to be potential jurors. Due to the pandemic, the jury selection was split into two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Some jurors were dismissed because they had concerns about being in the courtroom due to the pandemic.
The case received national attention when it happened which usually complicates the jury-picking process. The incident was dubbed by some media outlets as the "Fake Uber" trial and led to calls for new safety measures for rideshare services. The jurors were asked how much they had heard about the case and if they could be impartial.
The goal is to pick 12 jurors and 4 alternates. Jury selection will resume Tuesday at 10 AM.
During the upcoming trial, prosecutors will be trying to prove that Rowland is the lone person responsible for Josephson's death.
Columbia Police investigators say Josephson went out with friends in the city's Five Points entertainment district but got separated from her group. Around 2:00 a.m. on March 29, she used her phone to call an Uber ride, and investigators say she mistakenly got into a vehicle that she believed was the vehicle that she contacted.
Instead, police say it was a vehicle driven by Rowland, who did not work for Uber or another rideshare company. Police haven't said much about the moments following her getting into the car, but investigators say at some point after the car left the Five Points area, Rowland stabbed Josephson multiple times, killing her.
Police have claimed he then drove to a remote area of Clarendon County, South Carolina--an area 70 miles from the crime scene--where he left her body in a wooded area.
Around 1:30 p.m., less than 12 hours after she went missing and after hours of searching on their own, her friends reported her missing to police. About two hours later, two turkey hunters found Josephson's body off that dirt road in Clarendon County. Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said Rowland had lived in that area before.
At 3:30 a.m. the next morning, an officer spotted saw a vehicle in Five Points that matched what was seen on surveillance video. Police said when they tried to pull the car over, Rowland ran, but was taken into custody after a short foot chase.
Holbrook said Josephson's blood was found in the vehicle, and child proof locks were on the back-seat doors, which would have prevented anyone from getting out. The chief said Josephson's cell phone was found in the passenger compartment, as well as wipes and bleach.
Her death led to an outpouring of grief both on campus and in the Columbia community. Josephson had planned to go to law school in the fall of the year she died.
The university awarded Josephson a posthumous degree.
Safety Changes in the Wake of Tragedy
Soon after her death, Samantha's father and mother called for changes with rideshare services to make it clearer to riders if their driver was legitimate. Both have since become advocates on this topic, forming the organization "What's My Name" to educate people on rideshare safety.
Both Uber and Lyft made some changes in the wake of her death, including installing a feature that lets users call 911 from their app. The U.S. House passed a bill called "Sami's Law" requiring ride-sharing firms like Uber and Lyft to match drivers and passengers. And the South Carolina legislature passed a similar bill that also required rideshare drivers to display their license plate number on the front of their car.