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Sorry, you are incorrect. There is no judge or State aAr Association which would allow this. If subpoenaed by the prosecution, he would be compelled to testify as to what happened to him that night. And, he most certainly would be subpoenaed to testify, just like every other victim, or the state’s attorney is not properly doing his/her job. So, in essence, he would be compelled to testify against his own client, or go to jail for contempt of court, neither of which would look good to a jury or look good for the judicial process in general.
Even if Hope wanted him to represent her, despite the likelihood of her attorney being called as a state’s witness, it would not be allowed to avoid the appearance of impropriety. The accused does NOT have an absolute right to pick whomever he/she wants to represent him/her. There are ethical rules and court rules which apply to both the lawyer and the judge.
whether he is a hostile witness or not. Being designated as a "hostile witness" only relates to how the attorney can question the witness (i.e. use leading questions as if the witness is being cross-examined instead of direct examined), nothing else. Neither the trial level court nor the appellate courts will allow the defendant’s attorney to testify at/against his own client at his client’s trial, especially a criminal trial. This raises serious Constitutional questions. Further, it would be unethical for the attorney (in Justin’s position) to take the case to begin with. He would be in all kinds of trouble with the state bar association. Believe me, as an attorney, we have all kinds of rules that prohibit us from doing things which may cause even an appearance of impropriety or an appearance of the trial process being tainted.
If so, I’d be interested in hearing what law(s) would prevent someone from acting as one’s attorney. It is my understanding that as long as you are a member of the bar, you may represent anyone as their attorney. So I guess my question would be, who or what body would prevent you from doing so and for what reason(s).
I am an attorney. In my state, our state Supreme Court sets forth ethical and other guidelines by which attorneys and judges must practice. Most rules are very specific, and there are many, many ethical advisory opinions for situations which may not be so black and white. Just because you are an attorney, it does not mean you can represent anyone at any time; as stated before, one must be very careful in situations in which a conflict of interest may arise, or even an appearance of impropriety may occur.
For example, I represented a man in a post divorce custody matter with his ex-wife. He remarried and my firm represented his new wife in a personal injury case. Those two parties separated and each asked for my legal advice. I could not represent either one in the new domestic action, or even give them legal advice about it. Another example would be if an attorney represented two partners in a business deal to sell property. If somewhere down the road the partners disagreed on the price or any aspect of the sale, then each would have to retain new counsel since they each had separate interests now, and the original attorney could not do anything against his client (or former client’s) interest.
As attorneys, we are required to zealously represent our client. Testifying against our own client is not tantamount to zealous representation; quite the opposite: the attorney’s testimony could have a part in convicting the client (or a verdict against the client). There are so many due process and other Constitutional issues which arise in the Justin/Hope situation.
As to your inquiry about represnting oneself: this is also not an absolute right. The judge must be convinced that you are of sound mind and body and can actively participate and pursue your defense, AND that you are not seeking to represent yourself for any improper reasons.
Lastly, the State Bar Association is the entity which ensures that attorneys follow the rules, or it recommends disciplinary action (to the Supreme Court) against those that do not. I am licensed in two states and they each have basically the same rules. It is very likely that most states have very similar rules. Hopefully, this clarified some issues for you. Let me know if you need additional information.
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