Athlete of the day, on trial for murder
Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 19:22 
LAS VEGAS Fitness queen Kelly Ryan on shemuscle lost a bid to change lawyers before she and bodybuilder husband Craig Titus stand trial in Las Vegas on murder and other charges. The Judge says letting Ryan hire a lawyer from the same firm representing Titus could pose a conflict of interest and lead to an appeal later. The pair are due for trial in April in the slaying of live-in assistant Melissa James. Her body was found in the trunk of Ryan's burned-out Jaguar sedan in December 2005. Ryan wanted the judge to let her hire Michael Cristalli -- whose partner Marc Saggese is representing Titus. The two lawyers say they want to put on a joint defense that would prevent Titus and Ryan from having to testify against each other. They say they'll appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Ryan's current lawyer -- Greg Denue -- says he's going to be off the case soon anyway. He says he plans to withdraw because Ryan lacks faith in him.
In a court appearance Tuesday, Titus appeared to be overcome by emotion while lawyers argued over who would represent Ryan, his wife, during the upcoming trial.
Throughout the hearing, Titus dabbed his eyes with a tissue and appeared to be crying.
Titus and Ryan are charged with murdering James, their personal assistant, in December of 2005. They were caught two weeks later near Boston after allegedly making plans to leave the country. link
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