A Charleston man charged with murder has been appointed more than 10 attorneys and a judge is trying to put a stop to it.
Last week, Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit told Miguel Quinones that even if he files a disciplinary complaint with the West Virginia State Bar against an attorney, it won't mean that they can no longer represent him. Quinones is charged with murder in the death of Kareem Hunter.
An obviously frustrated Tabit told Quinones on Wednesday that while he has a Sixth Amendment right to counsel, he doesn't have a right to the counsel of his choice.
The hearing Wednesday was held to address a motion filed by attorneys Charles Hamilton and Shawn Bayliss, who had asked the judge to be taken off Quinones' case.
Quinones filed disciplinary complaints with the State Bar against Hamilton and Bayliss, they said.
Even assistant Kanawha prosecutor Maryclaire Akers stood up in defense of the attorneys.
“They have done nothing in the state's opinion that would be a reason to have a complaint filed against them,” Akers told the judge.
Tabit agreed to allow the attorneys off the case, but said the next appointed attorneys would be it and that Quinones' case would not be delayed any longer.
Raleigh County attorneys Robert Dunlap and Amy Osgood were appointed by the court administrator's office.
Quinones was indicted in Hunter's death in March 2014, after Kelsey Legg, who was originally charged with murder, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and provided police information about Quinones and Deveron Patterson.
Patterson, 27, of Beckley, has already been sentenced to life in prison with the chance for parole after pleading guilty last year to first-degree murder.
Legg, 20, was sentenced to six to eight years in prison for helping to conceal a dead body and being an accessory after the fact to murder.
Prosecutors have said they won't offer Quinones a plea deal.
Hunter, 28, was beaten to death in a Marmet apartment, bound with duct tape and buried in a shallow grave near Beckley, according to police. He was reported missing Sept. 23, 2013, and his body was found almost two months later.
Several of Quinones' attorneys have said they can't communicate with him and have asked Tabit and her predecessor, Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib Jr., to take them off the case.
After being charged with Hunter's murder, Quinones pleaded not guilty in magistrate court for a preliminary hearing with father-and-son attorneys Joe and Tim Harvey, of Princeton. They had represented him on a charge in Raleigh County.
In May 2014, Quinones was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder and conspiracy in Kanawha County. Shortly after that, the Harveys withdrew as Quinones' counsel.
Zakaib then appointed Charleston attorney Ed Rebrook to represent Quinones. The two clashed in several hearings, and Rebrook eventually asked to be taken off the case
Wayne VanBibber and Richard Holtzapfel, who were appointed next by Tabit, asked to be taken off the case, citing a breakdown in communication. Tim Carrico also asked to be taken off the case.
Attorneys John Carr, Michael Payne and Trent Redman, were taken off after saying they had a conflict of interest.
A case before the Maine Supreme Court deals with a man stripped of his right to a court-appointed attorney because he couldn't get along with five of them, according to The Associated Press.
Several supreme court justices suggested that the defendant had been gaming the legal system and trying to delay his trial on robbery charges, giving the judge in his case little other recourse.
One Maine justice expressed concern with the idea of a precedent that defendants with behavior problems “really can't have attorneys,” according to the article published last week,
The defendant ended up representing himself at trial.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.