Opinion ID: 2570218
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The extent of the conflict

Text: In Young, the court noted that there was a significant breakdown between Young and his attorney. On five occasions Young complained to the court regarding the issue, twice filing a motion to substitute counsel and consistently complaining that his attorney had not been to see him, a problem that continued even after the court ordered weekly visits. Here, Garcia's attorney, Joseph Sciscento, explained to the court that he visited Garcia at the jail and discussed the case through an interpreter, as Garcia speaks only Spanish. Sciscento noted that he had reviewed the discovery with Garcia but that he had refused to leave the discovery information with Garcia at the jail because of concerns that another inmate would have to translate the information and could then potentially testify against Garcia at trial. However, after voicing his concerns, Sciscento agreed to deliver the discovery to Garcia for his review. The facts of this case are distinguishable from Young. Garcia, in his motion, stated that since Sciscento's appointment as counsel he had not been to see Garcia or contacted him by telephone. The record belies this statement. Sciscento was appointed to represent Garcia on January 23, 2003, replacing Garcia's previous counsel because an unspecified disability prevented him from continuing representation. On February 25, 2003, Sciscento represented to the court that he had spoken to Garcia numerous times throughout the week regarding an offered plea negotiation. Given that Sciscento visited Garcia on numerous occasions, and because he agreed to provide Garcia the discovery documents as requested, we conclude that no irreconcilable conflict existed between Garcia and his court-appointed counsel.