Bedford v. State

The public defender who represents petitioner filed a motion to withdraw because of a conflict arising from the public defender’s prior representation of a witness for the state. The trial court denied the motion to withdraw, and the public defender seeks a writ of certiorari. We have jurisdiction. Valle v. State, 763 So.2d 1175 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). We grant the petition.

The motion to withdraw alleges that the public defender has a conflict of interest in that it had represented the witness to this crime in a case with a 1998 case number and that the witness was also a victim of the crime.…