The judge presiding over the case of Phoenix Ikner, the accused gunman in the 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University, showed little interest in pushing back deadlines that could potentially delay the trial’s start date in October.
During a case management conference on Tuesday, May 26, Acting Circuit Judge Lance Neff said he would take motions from the state and the defense under consideration on the setting of witness disclosure deadlines that could start as soon as June 1.
Blake Johnson, an attorney appointed to represent Ikner, told Neff that it would be “virtually impossible” for the defense to meet deadlines proposed by the state to disclose witnesses.
State Attorney Jack Campbell filed a motion April 29 asking the judge to set deadlines of June 1, July 1 and Aug. 1 for the disclosure of all guilt phase, penalty phase and rebuttal witnesses, respectively. He also proposed that all pretrial motions be filed by Aug. 1.
“I can assure the court that we are firing on all cylinders in an attempt to prepare this case for trial as well as handle the rest of our responsibilities,” Johnson said. “But we could not be ready to list our experts by the state’s proposed date simply because our investigation is not complete.”
An incredulous Neff, who reluctantly agreed last year to push the trial date back to Oct. 19, grilled him about that.
“Why?” Neff asked, adding that he read the probable cause affidavit and understood the facts of the case. “I am not understanding why you can’t prepare based under those facts, or at least alleged facts, by October. I just don’t get it.”
Neff, who noted that video evidence shows Ikner allegedly carrying out the mass shooting, told Johnson he wouldn’t “get forever” to prepare for the trial.
“I guess my question for you is if something is on an objective source of evidence such as videotape, what does it help you to get subjective testimony from 20, 50, 100 other witnesses who saw the same thing when you have the videotape of the alleged event?” he asked.
Johnson told Neff the case is “complex in a number of different ways” including potential mitigation factors that might be considered during sentencing.
“I’m not asking for anything unreasonable,” he said. “All I’m asking for is the ability to do this case effectively and thoroughly, and I think that is the way that justice is best served.”
Campbell told Neff that this was his first time working opposite Johnson but that he had been a “total gentleman.”
“And I agree with him completely that he has been dutifully working on the case,” he said.
Ikner, wearing a red jail jumpsuit, handcuffs and leg shackles, made his first physical appearance in a Leon County courtroom since he allegedly opened fire on campus on April 17, 2025. He was shot in the face and neutralized by an FSU police officer three minutes into his attack.
He sat at the defense table between Johnson and Sarah Morris, both Jacksonville lawyers with the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, whispering occasionally to them.
Ikner seemed to pay close attention during the proceeding, locking his eyes at one point on Campbell as he spoke from a lectern. The defendant appeared to chew nervously on the inside of his cheek but otherwise showed little if any emotion.
The 21-year-old former FSU student faces two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted first-degree murder in the mass shooting. State Attorney Jack Campbell, who is personally prosecuting the case, is seeking the death penalty.
Robert Morales, 57, a former Tallahassee restaurateur who served as FSU’s dining coordinator, and Tiru Chabba, 45, an executive with FSU vendor Aramark from Greenville, South Carolina, were killed in the shooting. Five people were injured, and two others were fired upon.
Johnson, in a motion filed May 19, said he faced “serious challenges” in meeting the state’s proposed timeline and Neff’s current trial schedule. He said there was an “overwhelming volume” of discovery to process, including Ikner’s ChatGPT logs in which he allegedly conversed with a chatbot about mass shooting scenarios.
Ikner’s use of ChatGPT prompted Attorney General James Uthmeier to launch a criminal investigation into the firm and its parent company, OpenAI. Chabba’s family filed a negligence lawsuit against ChatGPT and related entities in May, and the Morales family also intends to sue the AI company. ChatGPT has denied any wrongdoing.
Campbell told Neff that both he and defense counsel were “making good progress” but said he needed to start lining up expert psychological witnesses for the penalty phase of the trial now to meet an October trial date. He said the defense needs to list its “mental mitigation” witnesses first so he an retain comparable experts.
“I need him to make a move so I can make a counter move and we can meaningfully prepare for trial,” he said. “I don’t want to waste the court’s time. I certainly don’t want to string along the victims’ families and witnesses with unrealistic dates. At the same time, I’m not going to be not-prepared for trial.”
Neff also criticized Johnson for one of about 20 defense motions he filed in early May demanding the state turn over all evidence favorable to the defendant. Among other things, the motion asked the state to disclose “absolutely anything of value or use,” including money, witnesses fees or favorable treatment in any other court that could bias the witness toward the prosecution.
“I thought it was a bit much, OK,” Neff said. “If you have specific facts that you would like to put forth thinking that something occurred, that’s fine, or if you want to have a hearing on the lack of evidence being offered from the state, that’s fine. But the kind of undercurrent of that motion, I don’t appreciate it so let’s not let it happen again, OK?”
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Alleged FSU gunman in court as judge grills lawyer over trial delays
Reporting by Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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