Went to court today expecting to see a preliminary hearing and came away with shocking news: Fourteen-year-old Brandon McInerney’s father has fired his son’s lawyer, Willy Quest. I caught up with a very disappointed Mr. Quest after court and here’s his reaction to learning the news.
A frustrated Willy Quest speaks with the media after court.
Q: What was your motion regarding the proposed change in attorneys?
A: To have a guardian ad litem appointed to see if this is in the best interests of Brandon. We have concerns, obviously, given the nature of this case whether this is in the best interest of Brandon.
Q: And who requested this change, the family?
A: It is our understanding this firm was retained by the father.
Q: And that’s Scott Wippert who will be the new attorney coming into the case?
A: Right.
Q: And who is the United Defense Group?
A: As far as I know, they offered to defend him for one dollar… I don’t know their retainer agreement. I haven’t seen it. But that’s my concern. I think they represented Alvarez, the guy who did the Metrolink for two months – for publicity – and they dumped it. So I think that’s what’s going to happen (in this case). I don’t know this firm. I’ve never seen them. They never operated here in Ventura, as far as I know.
Q: And you were informed yesterday.
A: I had an idea over the weekend. And then I was notified yesterday. I talked to the father on Sunday. A message was left by Scott Wippert. But I haven’t talked to him.
Q: And are you aware as to whether he’s in court or not?
A: I think he is.
Q: Is there a conflict within the family as to who to hire?
A: I don’t want to get in on that. I know the father has custody.
Q: Now you said the public defender’s office is filing this Guardian ad litem motion. What are the concerns about this firm subbing in on the eve of the prelim?
A: This is a case of high magnitude that’s going to require a lot of resources, specifically whether this firm does it for free is – you know, unless they have juvenile justice at heart, this is a for-profit firm. This is a business. But whether or not they do it for free, experts are not going to testify for free. And this case is going to require the best experts, we believe. And if Brandon is going get the defense that I think he deserves – our concern is they don’t have the resources to adequately represent Brandon.
Q: Mr. Quest, are there specific resources that you’re speaking of?
A: For monetary resources. To pay for the experts.
Q: Are there specific experts that you’re speaking of?
A: Yeah, I don’t want to get into that because I filed a declaration under seal stating what my goals were. What my thoughts on the case are. My impressions. What I think is going to be needed, but that’s under seal and I don’t want to get into that.
Q: This was scheduled for prelim today?
A: Scheduled for prelim… And that’s going to be continued. That was going to be continued no matter what. There’s some discovery issues. A lot of other issues that were going to be on the table today. It was going to be continued – my request to have it continued. And the DA reluctantly agreed to it. So the matter was going to be continued no matter what, and then this thing came up, which throws everything in the air.
Q: Are you disappointed or frustrated with this decision?
A: Probably both those words are accurate.
Q: Can you explain that?
A: On a personal level I’ve put a lot in on this case. And I feel deeply about this case. And I don’t think you can duplicate what I’ve done. On a professional level, I’m very competitive. And what this does is there’s, unfortunately, there’s a perception that on a big case you need a private attorney. That the public defender does not provide the best representation. If you’ve done this business and you know the attorneys you know that is wrong. But you have to overcome that impression. And, unfortunately, that impression wasn’t overcome by certain members of the family.
Q: Can you try to persuade the father not to go in this direction?
A: No.
Q: Do you think your client will be used for some publicity cause now?
A: I don’t want to say anything on the record about that?
Q: What can you say factually about this new firm, the United Defense Group?
A: I don’t know the firm.
Q: Mr. Quest, this is the nature of the business in working for the public defender’s office, isn’t it?
A: I don’t have any beef with the private bar. When they take cases I’m very happy ninety-nine percent of the time. Because I have a heavy caseload. But this case requires a lot of work. This case is unique to me. I’ve invested a lot in this case, and I feel deeply about this case. I like Brandon a lot. I don’t want to see him go away for the rest of his life. So I take it personally. And I don’t think another person is going to be able to represent him in the manner that I can.
Q: In the interim have you done any work on the writ that you had talked about before?
A: We were in the process of filing that. So all that’s going to be stopped. And again we have one of the best appellate attorneys in our office. These are the resources that the public defender has that private firms just do not have.
Q: And you won’t be working with this private attorney?
A: No. We’re out.
Q: Do you have to turn over your work product? Or just what’s public record?
A: We’ll turn over everything we have. I’m not here to not allow a new firm to represent Brandon to the best ability that they can.
Q: The judge has to approve that, correct?
A: The judge will have to approve it.
Q: Will you oppose it?
A: Like I said we filed a motion for Guardian ad litem. That’s all. So the best interests of Brandon is there.
Q: Mr. Quest, you indicated there are still outstanding discovery issues?
A: That’s correct.
Q: Can you enlighten us as to what those outstanding discovery issues entail?
A: It had to do with certain allegations from the district attorney. I wanted information – they were going to bring in an expert regarding the hate crime allegation, and I wanted to know the background of this expert as a police officer. What he was going to testify to. What documents he was relying on. So I made a request for those documents that was opposed by the district attorney’s office. So that was an issue. They were asking for records that I had obtained, so that was another issue also.
Q: How many hours have you put into this case?
A: I’d say over a thousand. And that’s not including what my investigators have done. And experts already retained. To do this case properly, this case costs in excess of six figures, easily. And anybody worth their salt would be charging that.
