- Posted August 29, 2014
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Lawyer can't drop case of mom of autistic teen
BEULAH, Mich. (AP) - A defense lawyer has been ordered to stay on the case of a Michigan woman accused of trying to kill her autistic daughter, despite a "total breakdown" in their relationship.
Benzie County Judge James Batzer turned down a request by Heidi Hodek to stop representing Kelli Stapleton, who goes to trial Sept. 3 in northern Michigan.
"If (Stapleton) wanted to fire the attorneys, she could. Otherwise he wasn't letting them off the case," prosecutor Sara Swanson said in an interview Wednesday. "There was no indication she wanted them off the case."
Hodek has been defending Stapleton with another lawyer from her firm.
Stapleton, 46, is accused of trying to kill herself and her teenage daughter last year with carbon monoxide by igniting charcoal grills inside a van. Isabelle, 14 at the time, has severe autism and sometimes had violent outbursts.
Stapleton's blog had chronicled the challenges her family faced while caring for her.
In a court filing, Hodek said Stapleton has "become increasingly hostile" and has accused the lawyer of "not having her interests at heart."
Letters written by Stapleton with inaccurate information have been seized by jail staff and are potentially damaging to her defense, Hodek said.
"There has been a complete and total breakdown in the attorney-client relationship in this case," said Hodek, who added that she can't provide "detached and objective legal advice."
Published: Fri, Aug 29, 2014
headlines Oakland County
- Associations gather for Spring Fling
- Supreme Court denies rehearing request by attorneys sanctioned for meritless election lawsuit
- Law school conducts ‘Know Your Rights Day’ for high school students
- Oakland County household hazardous waste dropoff events promote environmental stewardship and safeguard communities
- Nessel testifies in support of BRITE Act
headlines National
- Incarceration series includes female inmates but doesn’t tell full story
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Former DOJ official who alleged election fraud violated at least one ethics rule, ethics committee says
- Winston & Strawn will provide reduced-cost legal services for routine tasks under Winston Legal Solutions umbrella
- Should Justice Sotomayor retire? Chemerinsky, White House haven’t joined calls for her to step down
- Which BigLaw firms are increasing lateral associate hiring the most? One made legal headlines last year