Sheffield v. State

Petitioner is represented by the public defender in two criminal cases. The public defender certified to the trial judge that he has a conflict of interest requiring withdrawal in both cases because his office represents a woman who is named as a state witness in only one of the cases. The trial judge permitted withdrawal in the case in which the woman had been named as a witness, but denied leave to withdraw in the other case. The Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Guzman v. State, 644 So.2d 996 (Fla.1994), leaves us no choice but to grant the petition. Guzman makes it clear that under…