Miami attorney files motion to withdraw as counsel for Dalia Dippolito

Mark Eiglarsh cites irreconcilable conflict as reason

California attorney Brian Claypool (center) speaks to the media in January while Dalia Dippolito and attorney Mark Eiglarsh listen.

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. ā€“ A Miami attorney who has represented Dalia Dippolito in her much-delayed murder-for-hire retrial has filed a motion to withdraw as her legal counsel.

Mark Eiglarsh cited an irreconcilable conflict as the reason for his motion, filed Monday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.

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"The conflict is irreconcilable and there are no circumstances that would enable undersigned to competently and zealously represent Ms. Dippolito in her upcoming trial," Eiglarsh wrote in his motion.

File: Mark Eiglarsh Motion To Withdraw

Eiglarsh's motion comes days after the Florida Supreme Court ruled that it would not consider an appeal to dismiss Dippolito's pending retrial, now scheduled to begin Dec. 1. Eiglarsh said he didn't believe the motion would further delay the retrial.

"Undersigned has discussed the conflict with Ms. Dippolito, who does not oppose the court granting this motion," Eiglarsh wrote.

Dippolito is accused of paying an undercover police officer, who was posing as a hit man, to kill her husband. The Boynton Beach Police Department staged a crime scene and recorded her reaction on the day her husband was supposed to be killed.

The Boynton Beach woman's attorneys sought to have the high court intervene, even though a state appellate court and Palm Beach County Judge Glenn Kelley have already refused to dismiss the charge against her.

Dippolito testified earlier this year 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.

Eiglarsh had represented Dippolito since July 2015. She is still represented by two other attorneys.

Dippolito was convicted of solicitation to commit first-degree murder in 2011 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, the Fourth District Court of AppealĀ reversed the convictionĀ in 2014. She has been out of jail on a $25,000 bond while awaiting retrial.


About the Author:

Peter Burke returned for a second stint of duty at Local 10 News in February 2014.