Trial of accused child murderer still on

An attempt to change attorneys and postpone an October trial date was denied on Monday when Judge Michael Jones refused to let Jeffrey Martinson's court appointed attorneys pass the case onto others, despite arguments that they could not be ready for a trial.

Martinson, 42, is charged with the 2004 first-degree murder of his 5-year-old son, Joshua Eberle-Martinson, and faces the possibility of the death penalty when he does go to trial.

If the motion had been granted, Martinson would have been on his fifth set of attorneys over the past 53 months, and the October trial date would probably have been pushed back into 2010.

Police say that Joshua, after a weekend trip to his father's in 2004, was discovered dead on the top bunk of a bedroom in Martinson's Ahwatukee Foothills apartment. Nearby, police found Martinson in the master bedroom, unconscious with cuts on his wrists. All around the apartment police discovered empty prescription bottles, over-the counter medicine, an empty liquor bottle and plastic bags that may have been used to suffocate the child.

Police were called when Joshua's mother, Kristin Eberle, became concerned when Martinson didn't return their son on Sunday, Aug. 24, so she went to his apartment in the 5100 block of East Piedmont Road.

Martinson and Eberle had been in a custody dispute almost from the time Joshua was born. Erberle had filed police reports about Martinson violating court issued orders of protection. Just before Joshua was found dead Martinson had lost several court rulings, including being ordered to pay back child support, attend domestic violence counseling and his visitation rights were about to be curtailed.

Martinson admitted to police he attempted suicide and passed out that Saturday night. He also told police that when he awoke on Sunday and discovered his son was dead he then tried to commit suicide a second time using Tylenol PM.

He has been in custody in jail since his arrest that day.

It's not clear what tact the defense will take in the case. At one point, attorneys were asking for the maintenance records of lab equipment that showed carisoprodol - an active ingredient in the muscle relaxer Soma - in the child's system and a possible cause of death, according to the Maricopa County Medical Examiners Office.

Later, attorneys were looking for experts who could testify that there are known lethal doses for carisoprodol in adults, but not for children, possibly nullifying the autopsy conclusions.

Attorneys recently requested health records for Joshua, possibly hoping to show a pre-existing illness that could explain the child's death.

The Martinson case is one of the oldest in the Superior Court system.