Presiding in the Roger Khan drug case, Justice Dora L Irizarry, has ordered attorney Robert Simels to file a motion in support of his letter to withdraw from Khan’s case since she found his informal application for withdrawal insufficient.
Simels and an assistant were arrested two weeks ago for alleged witness tampering in Khan’s case. Last week he had requested through a letter to withdraw from Khan’s case. Khan is also named in the 18-page complaint where the three reportedly attempted to use a US informant to among other things “neutralize” suspected prosecution witnesses in the drug case.
The lawyer has been ordered by the judge to file the document, which must be no more than three pages, setting forth the grounds for his request. The motion must be filed no later than October 1 and it would be addressed at the status conference on the drug case set for the following day.
One of the bail conditions for the witness tampering charge is that Simels should have no contact with Khan.
Meanwhile, another lawyer for Khan, John Bergendahl, may also have to withdraw from the case as the prosecution has pointed out a possible conflict of interest because of his representation of Sabrina Budhram who is awaiting sentence on the money laundering charge she pleaded guilty to. The conflict of interest may arise from the fact that evidence found in the home of the couple could but used against Khan in the trial.
Judge Irizarry has noted that Bergendahl has not responded to the prosecution’s letters alerting the court and the defence of a potential conflict in his representation of the defendant in the case. “Moreover, as is borne out by a thorough review of the docket sheet, Mr. Bergendahl has not appeared at any of the conferences held in this matter since July 13, 2007, nor has he participated in any part of the extensive motion practice conducted herein,” the judge pointed out.
She ordered that Bergendahl appear at the October 2 conference and that he and the prosecution should be prepared to address the conflict of interest issue at that time.
