HAGERSTOWN, MD - Lawyers for an inmate accused of killing a correctional officer at Washington County Hospital in January are seeking to postpone the trial for more than a year.

Twenty-year-old Brandon Morris faces 36 counts, including premeditated first-degree murder. He's accused of killing Jeffery Wroten of Martinsburg, West Virginia, with the officer's own gun at the hospital, where the inmate had been admitted for a self-inflicted injury.

Morris' trial is scheduled to begin July 31st in Washington County Circuit Court. But his lawyers filed a motion last week seeking to delay the trial by 18 months, saying they need the additional time to prepare because the state is seeking the death penalty.