Court filing — Plaintiff v. MEELAD DEZFOOLI, (Dkt. 127)

Summary

Order, Document 127, filed 03/01/24, Case 2:22-cr-00142-RFB-DJA, in the matter titled Plaintiff v. Meelad Dezfooli. It is ordered that the motion to withdraw is GRANTED. It is further ordered that the CJA Resource counsel shall appoint new counsel to represent Mr Dezfooli. The order is dated this the 1st day of March, 2024, and the signature block names Richard F. Boulware, II, United States District Judge.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

Text recognized from a scanned document; may contain errors.

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

Case 2:22-cr-00142-RFB-DJA Document 127 Filed 03/01/24 Page 1 of 2

RENE L. VALLADARES

Federal Public Defender

State Bar No. 11479

HEIDI OJEDA

Assistant Federal Public Defender
Law Office of the Federal Public Defender
411 E. Bonneville Avenue, Suite 250
Las Vegas, Nevada 89101

(702) 388-6577/Phone

(702) 388-6261/Fax
Heidi_Ojeda@fd.org

Attorney for Meelad Dezfooli

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF NEVADA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )
) Case No: 2:22-cr-00142-RFB-DJA
Plaintiff, )
) MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS
) COUNSEL AND REQUEST FOR
VS. ) APPOINTMENT OF CONFLICT-
) FREE COUNSEL
MEELAD DEZFOOLI, )
)
Defendant. )
)

On behalf of the Defendant, Meelad Dezfooli, Assistant Federal Public Defender Heidi
Ojeda, files this Motion to Withdraw as Counsel and Request for Appointment of Conflict-Free
Counsel, and states the following:

Recently, undersigned counsel learned of a conflict of interest in continuing to represent
Mr. Dezfooli. Undersigned counsel investigated and researched the nature of the conflict before
filing this motion.

Counsel is unable to disclose the nature of the conflict; however, the Federal Public
Defender’s Office has staffed the purported conflict and has concluded that a conflict in this mattey

does in fact exit regarding the continued representation of Mr. Dezfooli. The conflict prevents
10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

Case 2:22-cr-00142-RFB-DJA Document 127 Filed 03/01/24 Page 2 of 2

undersigned counsel and the Office of the Federal Public Defender of Nevada from providing}
zealous, conflict-free representation during all stages of Mr. Dezfooli’s criminal proceedings.

Because of the conflict of interest, undersigned counsel moves to withdraw immediately
as counsel. In addition, undersigned counsel requests immediate appointment of independent,
conflict-free counsel for Mr. Dezfoolli.

Undersigned counsel does not file this motion lightly. Nor is she filing this motion for any;
improper purpose or to delay. Rather, counsel is concerned about the need to appoint conflict-free
counsel as soon as possible because trial in this case is set in May 2024.

The undersigned has alredy mailed a letter to Mr. Dezfooli advising him of this conflict
and is mailing a copy this motion to Mr. Dezfooli as required by LR IA 10-6(b). Counsel has
separately alerted the government to this issue.

Considering the conflict of interest, undersigned counsel requests permission to withdraw
immediately as counsel and requests the immediate appointment of independent, conflict-free
counsel for Mr. Dezfoolli.

Respectfully submitted this 29th day of February 2024.

RENE L. VALLADARES
Federal Public Defender

By /s/ Heidi Ojeda

HEIDI OJEDA
Assistant Federal Public Defender

IT IS ORDERED the motion Motion to withdraw is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, the CJA Resource counsel shall appoint new

It t Mr Dezfooli.
counsel to represent Mr Dezfooli IT IS SO ORDERED:

Dated this the 1st day of March, 2024. AS

RICHARD F. BOULWARE, II
United States District Judge


File and source

File

127.pdf

Size

421,750 bytes

SHA-256

26602c537de2182e983282bb154850f18d25374e18dfd5d3afe29ae6b47da245

Our copy

127.pdf

Original

No public link identified.