Attorney conflict list approved

DAVENPORT — Three attorney conflict lists generated by public defense administrator David Hearrean following a ruling by the state Supreme Court were approved by the Lincoln County Commissioners at a regular meeting Monday, April 17.

The lists, which include Superior Court felonies, District Court misdemeanors and Juvenile Court/At Risk and Child in Need conflicts, includes six total lawyers from Spokane and Lincoln Counties. Lawyers will be given a chance to defend cases that Hearrean is unavailable for or has a conflict of interest in, or cases with multiple defendants, on a rotating basis.

Previously, court judges appointed a lawyer themselves, but a state Supreme Court ruling that took effect Jan. 1 nullified that practice.

Five lawyers that will rotate in Superior Court include Spokane-based Zach Myers, Spokane-based Grant Riva, Odessa-based Victoria Iverson, Davenport-based Kara Hill and Liberty Lake-based Robert Seines.

The District Court rotation list includes Myers, Riva, Iverson, Hill and Spokane-based Brandon West. The Juvenile Court has just two on the list: Riva and West.

Due to being out of town, Hearrean was unavailable for comment to discuss his process for creating the list.

Superior Court Judge Jeffrey S. Barkdull and District Court Judge Dan B. Johnson originally asked the commissioners to generate the list, but the commissioners pivoted to Hearrean after a legal discussion with prosecuting attorney Adam Walser.