August Trial Set in Lesbian Child Custody Case

The attorneys for a man charged with helping a former Vermont woman flee the country rather than turn custody of her child over to her former lesbian partner say he's eager to go to trial and his client hopes to be acquitted.

Defense attorney Joshua Autry made the comments Tuesday during a pretrial hearing for his client, Kenneth Miller of Stuarts Draft, Va.

U.S. District Court judge William Sessions ruled the trial will start as scheduled on Aug. 7. Prosecutors had asked him to delay the trial because the wife of a key witness is in Nicaragua and is expecting a baby around the time the trial is due to start.

Miller has pleaded not guilty to charges of aiding and abetting international parental kidnapping.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.