Circuit Judge Mark Borello granted a motion to remove one of Russell Tillis' lawyers from his case but pushed back on his request to remove the other.
“You know when a person wants to end a relationship with someone and they say, ‘it’s not you, it’s me’?" the judge asked. "Have you ever considered the possibility, given the history here, that it’s not them -- it’s you?”
Tillis has churned through attorneys, filing at least eight motions to have them removed. Counting second-chair attorneys and those removed due to conflict, Tillis has cycled through 13 lawyers.
As of Friday morning, that became 14, with a pending request to would make it 15.
Co-counsel John Rockwell sought to withdraw from the case after Tillis filed a motion saying the attorney had a conflict. Rockwell was involved in a prior drug prosecution of Tillis. Initially, Tillis said he didn't object to having Rockwell on his case but recently changed his mind.
Rockwell said he didn't believe there was a conflict, but that he'd been was instructed to withdraw by the Florida Bar. The judge granted his request to withdraw.
Judge Borello then heard Tillis' motion to remove his lead attorney Charles Fletcher, saying his attorney was not providing a vigorous defense.
"His 'I don't care' mentality is unacceptable in a capital case," he said.
Prosecutor Alan Mizrahi noted the timing of Tillis' unhappiness with his lawyers coincided with forward motion in his case.
"Every time the defendant -- right before depositions are scheduled -- files a petition for a Nelson hearing [to get rid of an attorney], and all the depositions are canceled."
Tillis agreed the judge's pushback on his continued complaints against his own attorneys raised "a valid point."
"When I continue to make the same point over and over, you have to take into consideration -- Am I crazy? Am I making frivolous allegations? Or is in fact the repeated occurrence occurring?"
"And what conclusion did you come to?" the judge asked.
"I would as the court in coming to your conclusion to base that conclusion on the facts."
"Fair enough," the judge said.
Borello will announce his ruling on July 25. He also set a trial date of Jan 13, 2020.