WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The retrial of a Boynton Beach woman accused of hiring an undercover police officer to kill her husband will go on, although it may be without her attorney.
A Palm Beach County judge Wednesday tossed out a request by the attorneys for Dalia Dippolito to dismiss her case, which means that the 33-year-old will stand trial in May for a second time.
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However, Judge Glenn Kelley also issued an order to show cause as to why California attorney Brian Claypool should not be removed as Dippolito's co-counsel.
Kelley "has reason to believe that Mr. Claypool has violated the Florida Rules of Professional Conduct," he wrote in his order Wednesday.
The order stems from Claypool's Feb. 23 post-hearing news conference outside the Palm Beach County courthouse.
Dippolito testified that day that she was acting for a television show and wasn't really plotting a murder-for-hire. A video recorded by the Boynton Beach Police Department shows Dippolito crying at the staged crime scene on the day of her August 2009 arrest. Another video shows Dippolito giving money to the undercover officer.
"If the judge follows the sensational nature of those videos that you saw again today, if the judge follows the drama in those videos, if the judge feels pressure from the community, if he rules in that regard, then he's probably going to deny this motion," Claypool told the media after the most recent hearing.
Kelley wrote that Claypool's comments were made "with reckless disregard as to (their) truth or falsity."
Claypool is not licensed to practice in Florida but has been allowed to appear in court on Dippolito's behalf "pro hac vice," Latin for "for this one particular occasion." Kelley ordered that Claypool and the rest of Dippolito's defense team -- Miami attorney Mark Eiglarsh and West Palm Beach attorney Greg Rosenfeld -- appear before him March 22 to show cause why Claypool's pro hac vice status "should not be vacated, or whether other appropriate sanctions should be imposed."
The judge also said that Dippolito violated the terms of her house arrest when she traveled to Miami to conduct an interview for the ABC News show "20/20."
Dippolito was convicted of solicitation to commit first-degree murder in 2011 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the conviction in 2014. Her retrial is set to begin May 23.
Eiglarsh declined to comment, and Rosenfeld was not available for comment.
Local10.com sent an email to Claypool seeking comment, but he has not yet replied. However, Claypool told WPBF, the ABC affiliate in Palm Beach County, that his comments were "never intended to disparage or disrespect the judge in any fashion." Claypool said he's "never once been investigated or disciplined" in his 20-plus years of practicing law.