State ex rel. Youngblood v. Sanders

(Filed Dec. 5, 2002)

In this proceeding, the majority opinion has issued a writ of prohibition precluding the circuit court from disqualifying the petitioner’s defense counsel. I concur in this judgment. I write separately to clarify issues the majority opinion failed to address, but which I believe may pose potential problems in future cases for future litigants.

A. The State Did Not Have Standing to Disqualify Defense Counsel

The majority opinion assumed that the State had standing to seek to disqualify defense counsel. Consequently, the majority opinion addressed the merits of the issue…