PICKENS — Nearly two months after a judge delayed the sentencing hearing in the murder case against Jerry “Buck” Inman, there hasn’t been a new hearing scheduled.

Inman, 38, faces either the death penalty or life in prison.

Inman pleaded guilty to murdering 20-year-old Clemson University student Tiffany Marie Souers on Aug. 19. Souers’ body was found in her off-campus apartment in 2006. She had been strangled by Inman with a bikini top.

Inman, a Tennesse native, said he had spotted Souers of Missouri while driving around the campus area. He returned, broke into her apartment and killed her, he said in a statement to police.

After his guilty plea, the judge began hearing testimony from defense and prosecution witnesses, who explained how the brutal murder occurred and examined his criminal and mental history.

It was during that testimony phase in early September that Marti Loring, a licensed social worker in Georgia, was to finish the defense team’s testimony regarding Inman by providing a chronology of Inman’s life. But 13th Circuit Solicitor Bob Arial questioned whether she was licensed to practice in South Carolina, and Loring said she thought her testimony might be given under the threat of prosecution.

Arial had asked Loring if she knew it was a crime to practice social work in South Carolina with a license from Georgia.

Judge Ned Miller granted her immunity, but Loring refused to testify. Miller dismissed her from the case.

A former Upstate solicitor, George Ducworth, said finding a new witness to replace Long should take two weeks to a month.

“I would think once they get somebody, it would not take that long to do the evaluation,” Ducworth said. “They could do it in a couple of weeks.”

He said he was surprised Long was not compelled to testify after being granted immunity from the judge. He said once the defense team picks a new witness, the prosecution can question the validity of statements on cross-examination.

Ducworth, who was 10th Circuit Solicitor for Anderson and Oconee counties from 1981 to 2001, speculated that a reason for the delay is that “the judge wants to make sure there are no issues on appeal.”

John Stathakis, an Anderson criminal defense attorney who does public defender contract work, said finding a person to replace Loring would not take long, but the evaluation process could take two months or more.

“To be very thorough with it, with the seriousness of the matter and volume of information, I would gather … it would take a couple of months,” Stathakis said.

The defense would want the expert witness to testify as to how the life experience of Inman would shape him, among other issues, he said.

Marsha Barker, a spokeswoman for the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s office, said the case remains under a gag order and that no statements would be made regarding any hearings or selection of a new witness to replace Long would be made.

“We are under a gag order, and I can’t say a thing,” she said. “When I have something to say, I’ll e-mail everybody.”