Judge Jacqueline High-Edward reprimanded Stephanie Cady and Lindsay Wheat, who both work for Spokane County’s Counsel for Defense, after they decided to take time off through the Family and Medical Leave Act just days before the start of the first-degree murder trial of Cynthia El Khalil, 39, who is charged in 2024 with stabbing and shooting her ex-boyfriend, 40-year-old Justin Daniel. The allegation was made.
The judge said it was necessary to remove him from the case, even though it would further delay Khalil’s trial.
Hy-Edward’s written order removing Cady and Wheat “ends one of the most shocking campaigns to frustrate the justice system this Court has seen,” the judge wrote. “This is an end that was forced by Ms. Cady and Ms. Wheat because of their blatant disrespect for their client, the court, our community, and their profession.”
In a criminal trial that has been delayed more than 10 times, High-Edward overruled requests by Cady and Wheat for more time. The judge’s order was a sharp rebuke to his representation of Khalil, 39, who was acquitted by a jury of a separate murder in 2018.
In that case, prosecutors claimed Khalil fractured the skull of her 5-year-old adopted nephew, Gary Blanton III, in 2015. But the jury found Khalil not guilty.
Then two years ago, Khalil was charged with the murder of Justin Daniel, who called police on April 13, 2024, to report that his ex-girlfriend, Khalil, had come to his house in violation of a no-contact order.
At the time, the former couple was embroiled in a legal dispute over their 3-year-old daughter. A month earlier, Daniel was granted full custody.
But when deputies arrived at Daniels’ home in April 2024, they found him dead. He was stabbed 48 times and wounded by bullets three times.
Khalil is later arrested and charged with first-degree aggravated murder, meaning he faces the possibility of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But since then, the case has been continuously delayed despite a hearing being scheduled for earlier this month.
“Over the past four weeks, defense counsel have filed four motions for continuances and two motions to withdraw,” Judge Haigh-Edwards wrote. “Both motions were filed when the hearing began in the morning.”
When High-Edward rejected those offers, Wheat went on paid leave “without giving Ms. Khalil any notice,” the judge added.
Cady went on leave on 29 March, when the trial was scheduled to begin on 4 May. Wheat then asked for more time before he could go on leave himself before May 18, the latest date set for the trial to begin.
“Upon questioning, Ms. Khalil, who appeared stunned, confused and frightened, felt she had no choice but to request new counseling because she had no idea what was happening,” High-Edward wrote. “The court now takes the opportunity to unequivocally find that the conduct of Ms. Cady and Ms. Wheat since March 27, 2026 has been evasive, obstructive, litigious, and contemptuous.”
The judge also found that the attorneys, who are public defenders but work for an office that handles cases when previous representation poses a conflict of interest, had made deliberate delay requests that had no basis in fact or law.
“Although removing Ms. Cady and Ms. Wheat as counsel would significantly delay the resolution of the case, the conduct of Ms. Cady and Ms. Wheat leaves the Court with no option but to grant Ms. Khalil’s request,” Hy-Edward wrote.
Efforts to reach Dale Nagy, the deputy Spokane County prosecutor who prosecuted Khalil, were not immediately successful Wednesday.
Victoria Blumhorst, who instructed defense counsel, said it was unfortunate that the case had reached this point.
He said, “It is disappointing when prosecutors and judges with no criminal defense experience believe they can make orders when defense counsel is or should be ready to proceed to trial, especially in cases that have such high stakes.”
Julie Humphries, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, said prosecutors rarely discuss pending cases.
The judge’s decision “means we can now set a realistic trial date and move forward,” Humphries said.
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