Summary
reversing denial of continuance for trial to substitute counsel in criminal case
Summary of this case from Madison v. StateOpinion
No. 1D09-5340.
December 3, 2010.
An appeal from the Circuit Court for Escambia County. Jan Shackelford, Judge.
Nancy A. Daniels, Public Defender, and Archie F. Gardner, Jr., Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Appellant.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and Meredith Charbula, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.
John Bush Gordon, Jr., appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence arguing the trial court reversibly erred by denying his request to substitute counsel. Although a defendant's right to counsel of his choice is not unbridled, see U.S. v. Gonzalez-Lopez, 548 U.S. 140, 126 S.Ct. 2557, 165 L.Ed.2d 409 (2006), and Evans v. State, 741 So.2d 1190 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), under the circumstances here, the trial court abused its discretion in denying the defendant's right to retain counsel. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of conviction and vacate the sentence, and remand for further proceedings.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
BENTON, C.J., VAN NORTWICK, and WETHERELL, JJ., concur.