A California
judge Tuesday appointed a guardian to protect the interests
of 14-year-old Brandon McInerney, the accused killer of
openly gay 15-year-old classmate Lawrence King, the
Ventura County Star reports. The move came
after McInerney's family said it wanted to fire
the public defender's office, which is currently
representing McInerney, in favor of a private law firm that
has reportedly agreed to defend the case for $1. A
preliminary hearing set for Tuesday was postponed
until October 14, when the court will also decide who
will represent McInerney, in addition to other issues.
According to
witnesses, McInerney shot King in the head on February 12
during first period in a packed classroom at E.O. Green
Junior High School in Oxnard, a largely blue-collar
port city of nearly 200,000 people about 60 miles
north of Los Angeles. McInerney is being tried as an
adult on charges of premeditated murder with a special
hate-crime allegation.
Proposition 21, a
controversial law enacted by a state ballot initiative
in 2000, affords district attorneys more or less unfettered
discretion to try juveniles as young as age 14 as
adults for certain felonies. A defense motion to
transfer the case to juvenile court on constitutional
grounds was denied in July.
McInerney's family wants to replace the public
defender's office with Scott Wippert, an
attorney with the United Defense Group, a nationwide
criminal defense firm based in Los Angeles's Studio City,
and also with North Hollywood attorney Robyn Bramson.
United Defense Group has agreed to take the case on
for $1, according to Senior Deputy Public Defender
William Quest, who has been representing McInerney.
"A law firm for hire that takes on a case of
this magnitude for $1?" Quest said. "Red flags
are raised."
Speaking to
The Advocate and reporters from other
outlets in the courthouse Tuesday, Quest elaborated, saying,
"This is a case of high magnitude that's
going to require a lot of resources...unless [United
Defense Group] have juvenile justice at heart, this is
a for-profit firm."
He expressed
particular concern regarding whether the new firm would
provide expert witnesses that might be necessary to
McInerney's defense. "Whether or not
[the lawyers] do it for free, experts are not going to
testify for free, and this case is going to require the best
experts," he said. "Our concern is they don't
have the resources to adequately represent
Brandon...monetary resources to pay for the
experts."
Quest declined to
identify the specific experts the defense might need.
"To do this case properly," he said, would
"cost in excess of six figures easy, and anyone
worth their salt would be charging that."
Based apparently
on these concerns, Quest filed a petition questioning
whether the United Defense Group intends to protect
McInerney's best interests. He also asked the
court to appoint a "guardian ad litem,"
a term denoting a person designated by a court to take
legal action for, and protect the interests of, a
minor. Ventura County superior court judge Kevin McGee
granted the petition and appointed Willard Wiksell, an
experienced Ventura criminal lawyer. McGee said he
wanted to be sure McInerney acts "knowingly,
intelligently, and voluntarily" in deciding whether
to change lawyers.
Wippert, who
refused comment at Tuesday's hearing, complained to
the court that Quest and Wiksell are being permitted
access to McInerney while his firm is not. McGee
pointed out that Quest has access because he still
represents McInerney, as the court had not yet approved the
change of counsel.
McGee also
expressed dismay that the United Defense Group allegedly
obtained access recently to McInerney under what the judge
called "false pretenses," a charge
Wippert vehemently denied.
Quest said his
office had been readying an appeal of the
court's denial of his motion to transfer the
case to juvenile court, which would be decided before
the case goes to trial, but lamented that "all
that's going to be stopped" if new lawyers
take over the defense. "We have one of the best
appellate attorneys in our office," he said.
"These are the resources the public defender has that
private firms just do not have."
Quest said there
is no chance of his office and the new lawyers
representing McInerney jointly. "If we're
out," he said, "we're out."
Quest expressed
personal disappointment and frustration at the
family's move to hire new counsel. "I
don't have any beef with the private bar,"
he said. "When they take cases, I'm very happy
99% of the time, because I have a heavy
caseload."
But, Quest added,
"this case is unique for me because I've
invested a lot in this case, I feel deeply about this
case -- I like Brandon a lot; I don't want
to see him go away for the rest of his life. So, I take it
personally. I don't think another person's
going to be able to represent him in the manner that I
can."
