R. Allen Stanford’s Houston criminal-defense attorneys filed a motion last night asking Senior U.S. District Judge David Hittner to allow them to withdraw from the case, which is set for trial on Jan. 23. Stanford’s court-appointed attorneys -- Scardino & Fazel partners Ali Fazel and Robert Scardino, solo John Parras and Ken McGuire of the McGuire Law Firm – no longer want to defend Stanford, the former chairman of Houston’s Stanford Financial Group (SFG).
The lawyers allege in their Jan. 11 motion in United States v. Robert Allen Stanford that their investigation is incomplete -- a situation caused in part by “funding constraints” for experts and litigation support. Also, they allege, because Hittner turned down their request for a 90-day continuance, Stanford “will not receive effective assistance of counsel” because they will not be ready for trial on Jan. 23. “Proceeding to trial under these circumstances would result in representation that falls well below the constitutional standard for effective assistance of counsel,” the lawyers allege in the motion. They ask Hittner to allow them to withdraw or to grant them an additional 90 days to prepare for trial and to grant “prior budgetary requests.”