So we got back to court at three o’clock only to discover that the guardian ad litem had already been appointed for the case by Judge McGee. There are so many questions that this raises. Who’s really pulling the strings regarding Brandon’s representation? What’s going to happen to Brandon’s defense as a result? What really are Brandon McInerney’s best interests in this case?
After the third appearance in court for the day, Ventura County Senior Deputy Public Defender William “Willy” Quest spoke of his thoughts re the newly appointed guardian ad litem, Willard Wiksell.
Bill McInerney’s attorney Brian Vogel does not answer questions for the media in between court sessions.
Q: Can you tell us what took place in court at 1:30 this afternoon?
A: Willard Wiksell, who’s a local attorney who’s done very serious cases, was appointed guardian ad litem and advisory counsel to look into whether or not the law firm that has been retained was done in a knowing, voluntary, non-coercive, free manner, outside of any undue influence. Because of the nature of this case, and because of the age of Brandon…Mr. Wiksell will be granted investigation to just look into possibly the track record of this firm. Whether they have the resources to conduct this case to trial, and, whether it was done in a knowing and voluntary manner. Obviously, from the motion that we filed – a law firm for hire that takes on a case of this magnitude for one dollar – red flags are raised, we think. And that is why we asked for the guardian ad litem. And I think the court agreed with our decision.
Q: Was that the only concern you had, that they took on this case for a dollar?
A: There are others that I don’t want to comment about right now. But, we’re concerned – we’re looking out for the best interests of Brandon. That’s who I represent and that’s all I care about. We also think that possibly people are not familiar with this case come in and maybe promise things that are not realistic. And they give people false hope. And that’s a concern. If they don’t have the resources to do things other than what their promises turn out to be, and that is a concern that we have. And I’m not saying that that was done in this case, I don’t know. But, with an abundance of caution, I think this is an appropriate ruling.
Q: What’s your best-case scenario?
A: We would like to continue as attorney of record – and we represent him. We don’t think anybody could do nearly as good of a job as what we can do, and have the resources for what we can do. And we think that’s in the best interests of Brandon, because we think this case is such a profound case that only somebody with an unlimited amount of money or the public defender’s office or a non-profit that has third party backers could provide proper representation. And we think that Brandon deserves that type of representation. And so that is what we hope. And if it doesn’t happen, we still wish the best of luck to Brandon.
