Van Winkle v. Shinn ( 2021 )

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Pete Van Winkle, No. CV-18-03290-PHX-ROS 10 Petitioner, ORDER 11 v. 12 Charles L Ryan, et al., 13 Respondents. 14 15 Petitioner’s counsel, Sarah Stone, seeks to withdraw as counsel because she “has 16 accepted employment with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana.” (Doc. 55). In 17 recent months, Petitioner’s counsel has repeatedly stressed the need to extend the briefing 18 schedule, perhaps indefinitely, due to COVID-19. (Doc. 47, 50). The fact that counsel 19 secured different employment while seeking extensions raises concerns regarding 20 counsel’s diligence in this case. Given the current posture of this case, and the work already 21 performed by counsel, it is not obvious counsel should be permitted to withdraw without, 22 at least, identifying successor lead counsel.1 In any event, the present motion to withdraw 23 does not comply with Local Rule 83.3(b) and must be denied. 24 The Court will also require the Office of the Federal Public Defender to file a 25 statement indicating whether permitting the withdrawal of current counsel would be 26 appropriate and in the best interests of Petitioner, Respondents, and the Court. If the Office 27 1 If counsel is allowed to withdraw, she may be required to refund previous awards or forego unpaid amounts for amounts she has billed for work that must be redone by new 28 counsel. Cf. United States v. Smith, 387 F.2d 268, 271 (6th Cir. 1967) (contemplating requiring attorney “refund” amount received under the Criminal Justice Act). || of the Federal Public Defender believes withdrawal should be permitted, it must identify || proposed replacement counsel as soon as possible to ensure adequate representation of 3 || Petitioner. 4 Accordingly, 5 IT IS ORDERED the Motion to Withdraw (Doc. 55) is DENIED. 6 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED no later than March 26, 2021, the Office of the Federal Public Defender shall file a statement indicating whether permitting withdrawal 8 || would be appropriate and, if so, the identity of proposed replacement counsel. 9 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED the Clerk of Court shall distribute this Order to 10|| counsel of record, Federal Public Defender Jon Sands, and Assistant Federal Public 11 || Defender Dale Baich. 12 Dated this 12th day of March, 2021. 13 fo - 14 C . ES 15 Honorable Ros yn ©. Silver 16 Senior United States District Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 _2-