Taxpayers to Pay for 2nd Defense of Betty Broderick : Courts: Jack Earley will remain the attorney for the woman accused of killing her ex-husband and his new wife, but she will not pay for his services.

At a minimum of $60 per hour in attorney’s fees, county taxpayers will foot the bill for the second defense of La Jolla socialite Elisabeth Anne (Betty) Broderick, accused of killing her ex-husband and his second wife, a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled Thursday.

Rather than appointing a public defender, Judge Jesus Rodriguez ordered Jack Earley, a Newport Beach lawyer who represented Broderick in the first trial, to remain on the case. Earley said his familiarity with the case and Broderick’s trust in him persuaded the judge to keep him on.

Earley, however, wants $150 to $200 per hour for his work, which he called just compensation for a complex case. Rodriguez decided Thursday only that Earley would be paid at least $60 an hour, the county’s rate for private lawyers handling murder cases, and said the lawyer could ask later for a hearing to explain why he thinks he deserves more.

Rodriguez also set the start of Broderick’s second trial for Aug. 1, though he added that the date could be pushed forward to May if Earley--who has five other cases set to go to trial in the coming months--can juggle his schedule.

Broderick, 43, faces two counts of murder in the Nov. 5, 1989, shooting deaths of her ex-husband, Daniel T. Broderick III, and his new wife, Linda Kolkena Broderick.

Daniel Broderick was a prominent medical malpractice attorney and a former president of the San Diego County Bar Assn. Linda Kolkena Broderick was his office assistant.

Betty Broderick’s first trial ended Nov. 20 in a hung jury. She has remained at the Las Colinas Jail in Santee since she surrendered to authorities the day of the killings.

Last week, San Diego Superior Court Judge Thomas Whelan, who presided over the first trial, denied bail for Broderick. Whelan also refused to dismiss charges of first-degree murder in a retrial.

Like Earley, Whelan is scheduled to return for the second trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kerry Wells said Thursday. Wells previously announced that she also would prosecute the case the second time around.

At a hearing Monday, Earley said Broderick--who once received $16,000 a month in support from Daniel Broderick--is indigent and needs the county to pay for her defense at a second trial.