A conflict of interest with the public defender’s office has
delayed the preliminary hearing setting for a man accused of
attempted murder.
Tomas Martinez Romero appeared in court Thursday to set the date
for his preliminary hearing but his public defender surrendered the
case to an alternate defender after a conflict of interest arose,
Deputy District Attorney Danny Carr said.
Gilroy
A conflict of interest with the public defender’s office has delayed the preliminary hearing setting for a man accused of attempted murder.
Tomas Martinez Romero appeared in court Thursday to set the date for his preliminary hearing but his public defender surrendered the case to an alternate defender after a conflict of interest arose, Deputy District Attorney Danny Carr said. Although he did not know what the conflict was, he said it’s not uncommon for a public defender to relinquish the case if he or she previously represented another person involved in the case.
On the night of March 27, 2007, Romero walked up to a car at Stoney Court Apartments in east Gilroy with five occupants and fired almost 10 rounds, injuring two people, police said. He faces two counts of attempted murder.
Romero was originally arrested in connection with the city’s only murder in 2007. However, charges were dropped and he was released from custody. An illegal alien, Romero was almost deported but police removed him from a bus to serve him with new charges in late July 2007.
Romero will next appear in court 1:30 p.m. Jan. 6.
