Seffner criminal defense attorneys are constantly asked about the Office of Regional Conflict Counsel or as they are more commonly known, Regional Conflict Counsel. This is an organization set up by the State of Florida to handle ethical conflicts of interest within the Public Defender’s Office. For example, the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office cannot represent Individual X, if he is blaming Individual Y for the same crime, and they’re both represented by the Public Defender’s Office. This obviously creates significant ethical issues for the Public Defender’s Office. The Office of Regional Conflict Counsel was created to alleviate many of these conflicts of interest.
Anyone who has ever watched any sort of television show or movie concerning attorneys and the criminal justice system is aware of the conflicts of interest. But in short, conflicts in interest arise when a conflict occurs because the interests of two clients do not run parallel, rather they conflict with one another. Another common conflict of interest which occurs with the Public Defender’s Office is when the victim of the alleged crime is a former/current client of the Public Defender’s Office. The Public Defender’s Office could not ethically impeach the victim on their prior convictions, when they represented the individual. Unfortunately, this happens more often than not, in very serious criminal cases such as, murder, sexual batteries and other similar violent offenses.
If you have questions concerning the Office of Regional Conflict Counsel, and/or your Seffner criminal defense matter, contact the Seffner criminal defense attorneys of Hackworth Law for a free case consultation. We’ve handled thousands of criminal cases across the Tampa Bay area and will sit down with you to develop a strategy to make sure your rights are protected. If you would like to contact one of our Tampa criminal defense attorneys immediately, please use the “contact us now” tab in the upper right hand corner of our website or use our chatbox in the lower right hand corner of our website. We appreciate your time in checking out our Tampa criminal defense attorney blog and look forward to working with you.