Opinion ID: 200778
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The motion to withdraw was untimely

Text: 10 A defendant has no right to representation by a particular attorney when such representation would require undue delay. United States v. Hallock, 941 F.2d 36, 44 (1st Cir.1991) (internal citations omitted). In evaluating a motion to withdraw, a court must balance the interest in retaining counsel of [the defendant's] choice against the public's interest in the prompt, fair and ethical administration of justice. United States v. Richardson, 894 F.2d 492, 496 (1st Cir.1990) (internal citations and quotations omitted). 11 Smith was appointed as Reyes's counsel on November 26, 2001. Smith filed various suppression motions on Reyes's behalf. The motions were denied by a magistrate judge on March 6, 2002. On April 1, 2002, Smith and Reyes learned that the case was set for trial on May 6, 2002. On April 11, 2002, the district judge adopted the magistrate judge's recommendation denying the suppression motions. Smith waited until April 29, 2002, one week before trial was to begin, to file the motion to withdraw. 12 Reyes claims that this motion was timely because it was filed within two weeks of the district court's confirming the magistrate judge's decision to deny Reyes's motions to suppress. Reyes, however, had known of the magistrate judge's decision for almost two months before the motion to withdraw was filed. The motion to withdraw was thus untimely. It was filed months after Reyes learned that the motion to suppress would probably be denied and a mere week before the scheduled trial. See, e.g., Myers, 294 F.3d at 207 (holding a withdrawal motion untimely that was submitted months after the conflict first developed and five days before trial); Woodard, 291 F.3d at 107 (holding that a motion for substitution of counsel thirteen days before trial was untimely); United States v. Mangual-Corchado, 139 F.3d 34, 42 n. 18 (1st Cir.1998) (commenting in dicta that a motion to withdraw filed three weeks before trial could be untimely).