Friday, Dec. 14, 2001 | 9:58 a.m.
Over Franklyn Perry's objections, District Judge Michael Douglas Thursday allowed two defense attorneys to withdraw from Perry's sexual assault case.
Douglas is scheduled to appoint a new attorney for Perry at a hearing on Tuesday.
Perry is scheduled to go to trial in April on 48 sex-related charges, but he is also a suspect in a Ponzi scheme that authorities say resulted in about 1,000 people being scammed out of more than $40 million.
Defense attorneys Mace Yampolsky and Garrett Ogata asked Douglas if they could drop the sexual assault case Tuesday after learning that Perry has been discussing the Ponzi scheme case with other attorneys. Yampolsky and Ogata said that has caused an unspecified problems in preparing the case.
The judge told the attorneys to try to patch things up with Perry after Perry said the problem is a local civil attorney who he said is harassing him in an attempt to gain a percentage of the $22 million police seized in the Ponzi case.
On Thursday, Yampolsky said he still doesn't believe he can adequately represent Perry.
The judge granted the motion to withdraw, upsetting Perry, who insisted he be allowed to keep the attorneys on his case. He said there are other attorneys out there who are trying to "sabotage" his defense and he wants to be an active participant in his case.
Perry said he is a "hands-on" type of person and believes defendants are the masters of their cases and the attorneys are their "slaves."
Douglas sternly told Perry that attorneys have ethical obligations and they don't exist to do his bidding.
Prosecutors continue to work on putting together a fraud case against Perry. Once completed, they intend to present it to either a grand jury or to a magistrate during a preliminary hearing.
The $22 million seized from Perry in connection with that case is being managed by three special masters who were appointed after Perry filed a lawsuit to get the money back. Some of Perry's alleged victims have also filed lawsuits in attempt to claim the money.
Police allege that Perry told investors he was loaning money to high-roller gamblers who had hit their credit limits at area casinos.
Police said Perry would pay some investors a few hundred dollars a week, saying the payments were returns on the money they had loaned him. The weekly payoffs often convinced others to buy into the scheme, which required a minimum buy-in of $10,000.
In the sex case, authorities believe Perry convinced a 12-year-old girl to pose for sexually explicit photographs and arrange for them to be delivered to him. He also is accused of convincing her to engage in sex acts while on the phone with him.
It's unclear if the change in attorneys will affect Perry's April trial date.
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