Luong's Lawyers Denied Travel Money

You taxpayer dollars won't be spent to send lawyers to Vietnam in the Lam Luong capital murder case.

Luong is the Irvington man accused of tossing his four young children off the Dauphin Island Bridge in January. Judge Charles Graddick called the defense teams' request to travel a "fishing expedition."

Luong was born in Vietnam and left as a teenager. His biological mother and other family members are still there. His lawyers wanted to travel to his home country to learn more about his childhood.

Judge Graddick denied travel money but will allow funds to be spent on teleconferencing.

Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson likes that idea. "In this particular case, I think the judge has found a very interesting, imaginative way to arrive at justice without spending money unnecessarily."

Defense lawyer Greg Hughes wouldn't give us a price tag on the trip but Tyson believes the ballpark figure was $17,000.

Luong has pleaded not guilty in this case and it's set to go to trial in March 2009. Before sealing a document in court, Graddick said that Luong talked to a psychiatrist twice in the past month and said he wants the death penalty.