Former Cal Fire battalion chief Orville Gene Fleming today had a new lawyer appointed to represent him in his murder case for the stabbing death of Sarah June Douglas.

Fleming, 55, will now be represented by Sacramento defense attorney Pete Kmeto, a member of a panel of local lawyers who are assigned to represent indigent defendants when the Public Defender’s Office declares a conflict.

Fleming did not enter a plea during his Sacramento Superior Court appearance today in the May 1 killing of Douglas, 26, who lived with him. Judge Jaime R. Roman scheduled Fleming’s next appearance for July 8.

Deputy District Attorney Noah Phillips, the supervisor of the office’s domestic violence unit, has been named to prosecute the case.