Court allows lawyers to drop Purdie

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 2, 2002

The district court decided Monday to reschedule the trial of Bryan Timothy Purdie, who is accused of setting fire to his furniture shop in downtown Albert Lea,, granting a request for a continuance by the defense.

Tuesday, April 02, 2002

The district court decided Monday to reschedule the trial of Bryan Timothy Purdie, who is accused of setting fire to his furniture shop in downtown Albert Lea,, granting a request for a continuance by the defense. The court also will allow Purdie to be assigned a public defender, letting his current lawyer withdraw from the case.

Email newsletter signup

This was the second attempt by defense attorneys Donald W. Savelkoul and Patrick S. Collins of Peterson, Savelkoul, Schlichting and Davis Ltd. to hand over the case to a public defender.

In the last hearing on March 15, Judge John Chesterman denied the motion for withdrawal, pointing out that pulling out from the case at the last minute would be inappropriate and unfair for the defendant.

This time, Purdie waived his demand for a speedy trial. The court determined that a new lawyer would be able to prepare for the defense by moving the trial date originally scheduled on April 8 to a later date.

Prosecutor David Walker objected to the continuance, saying he does not see any basis for allowing it. Walker emphasized that he made every effort to comply with the speedy trial demand, and had already made arrangements to call 26 witnesses including ones from other states such as Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota and Missouri.

According to Savelkoul, Purdie’s financial state does not allow the law firm to continue to be in charge of the case.

The Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct allows a lawyer to withdraw from representing a client if the client refuses to abide by the terms of a representation agreement, such as agreement concerning fees or court costs, or an agreement limiting the objective of the representation.

However, the Minnesota General Rules of Practice for the District Courts defines that once a lawyer has filed a certificate of representation, that lawyer cannot withdraw from the case until all proceedings have been completed.

Walker insisted that the continuance with a change of defense attorney does not serve the interest of justice.

The public defender will take over the materials from Savelkoul and Collins, and discuss a new time frame for the trial in the next hearing.