COUNTYWIDE : Lawyer Firing Stayed in Maniscalco Case
The state Supreme Court has stayed a judge’s decision to fire Joanne Harrold as attorney for murder defendant Thomas Maniscalco.
Maniscalco’s capital murder trial ended in a mistrial last year after two jurors voted him not guilty. He is charged in an alleged biker feud that resulted in the slaying of three people in Westminster.
Maniscalco, a lawyer himself and a longtime friend of Harrold’s, told The Times that he wants her to remain his attorney.
The stay order came at 5:05 p.m. Tuesday, the day before Superior Court Judge James L. Smith was scheduled to appoint a new attorney for Maniscalco.
Judge Kathleen E. O’Leary fired Harrold two weeks ago because Harrold could not guarantee that her recent treatment for a pinched nerve would not result in delays when Maniscalco is retried.
The state Supreme Court has 90 days to decide whether to grant Harrold a hearing. “But with a man awaiting trial, we hope the court will act as expeditiously as possible,” Smith said.
It is still unclear what will happen to Andrew Roth, the second defense attorney on the case, who was fired after he refused to carry on without Harrold.
Smith has scheduled a new hearing in three weeks in hope that the Supreme Court has decided the issue by then.
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