Murder suspect Louis Leplat will possibly have an attorney next week. He is scheduled for appointment of counsel Tuesday morning, January 4th.
Leplat was arrested in June of 2009 in the stabbing death of a 23-year-old Bishop man on the reservation. Bail was set at a million dollars and public defender Elizabeth Corpora appointed to represent him.
Now, a year and a half later, the DA argued that Corpora had a conflict of interest and could not represent Leplat. He lost that motion in court, but Corpora hired an expert to assess the situation. She said he recommended that she withdraw from the case. Corpora had briefly represented one of the District Attorney’s witnesses in the Leplat case.
On December 21st, the Inyo Supervisors did approve a contract with attorney Neal B. Quinn of Ventura County to represent Leplat. That appointment is expected to go through next week. The contract with Mr. Quinn is not to exceed $80,000 in the next year.
While representing Leplat, Ms. Corpora did achieve a change of venue. Leplat’s trial will take place in Ventura County.
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