Opinion
2:22-cv-02855-JTF-atc
07-03-2024
CORINIO PRUITT, Petitioner, v. KENNETH NELSEN, Warden, Riverbend, Maximum Security Institution, Respondent.
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO SUBSTITUTE COUNSEL
JOHN T. FOWLKES, JR. United States District Judge
On June 16, 2024, Petitioner Corinio Pruitt's counsel filed Petitioner's Motion to Substitute Counsel. (ECF No. 24.) On June 27, 2024, Petitioner supplemented his motion. (ECF No. 26.)
Petitioner requests that the Federal Defender Organization for the Middle District of Tennessee (“TN-M FDO”) be allowed to withdraw and that the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of North Carolina (“NC-W FPD”) and its Capital Habeas Unit for the Fourth Circuit (“CHU”) be substituted as counsel under 18 U.S.C. § 3599. (ECF No. 24 at PageID 10738.) Petitioner asserts that the Chief Judges of the United States Courts of Appeal for the Fourth and Sixth Circuits have no objection to the appointment. (Id. at PageID 10740.) Petitioner states that Gretchen Swift, an Assistant Federal Public Defender, and Gerald W. King, the CHU Chief, will be assigned to the case. (Id. at PageID 10740-41.) Petitioner's counsel states that Swift and King are both experienced attorneys who have been admitted to practice in several courts, have satisfied the requirements of 18 U.S.C. §§ 3599(c) & (d), and have the ability to proceed with Petitioner's case in a timely manner. (Id.; see ECF No. 26-1 at PageID 10748-50; see also ECF No. 26-2 at PageID 10752-53.
For good cause shown, the Motion to Substitute Counsel is GRANTED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.