State v. Bryan

The following certified question comes to us from the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Judge James A. Lenfestey:

“Should a state attorney be disqualified by the trial court on motion of defendant from prosecuting said defendant for the reason that the state attorney was previously the public defender and his office represented the defendant on an unrelated charge approximately four years prior to the occurrence of the crime for which the defendant is presently charged ?”

We are obliged to answer the question as abstractly phrased in the negative. The mere fact that the State Attorney was formerly…