Collin Daniel Richards has been appointed a public defender by the court after being charged with first-degree murder.

Richards will be pleading not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder, public defender Paul Rounds told the Iowa State Daily.

“In my experience, the initial police reports rarely tell the whole story,” Rounds said. “We just hope that the people keep an open mind until the trial.”

The plea should not come as a surprise, according to Mary Richards, former Story County prosecutor.

“At this early point in the trial, you would never plead guilty,” Richards said.

Richards said an attorney would be remiss to have a client plead guilty this early on, saying an attorney would not have had the time to review all pertinent information in the case.

“Even someone saying ‘I did it, I did it,’ and caught wringing their hands over the body, they would still plead not guilty,” Richards said.

Rounds also filed a notice Tuesday referencing the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, stating Richards “does not wish to have any communications with law enforcement without the Defendant’s attorney present and law enforcement personnel have no right to initiate contact with the Defendant now that the Defendant has asserted both the right to counsel and the right to remain silent.”

A motion for mandatory discovery was filed to obtain a copy of Richards’ prior criminal record, all statements made by the defendant, statements made by co-defendants, the transcript of record of testimony of the defendant before a grand jury and all exculpatory evidence required by Brady v. Maryland.