Calling her attorney “a piece of garbage,” Kimberly Kessler told the judge in her murder case she wanted a new lawyer.
The stunning request came at Kessler’s first court appearance since being deemed mentally competent to stand trial.
Kessler, 51, is accused of killing Joleen Cummings, a Nassau County hairstylist and mother of three who was last seen on Mother’s Day in 2018.
Kessler, who also went by the alias Jennifer Sybert, was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial in July and placed in psychiatric confinement at Florida State Hospital. In October, she was reevaluated by state psychologists who found her “competent to proceed.”
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Asked why she wanted to fire her attorney, Kessler refused to answer directly. Instead, she told Circuit Judge James Daniel to review her psychiatric evaluation, saying she had discussed the matter with her doctors.
Kessler's public defender Teri Sopp also asked to be removed from the case, saying their attorney-client relationship was broken. She said she believes Kessler is mentally incompetent, but Kessler disputes that and has refused to meet with Sopp since returning from Florida State Hospital.
Judge Daniel refused both requests. He said Sopp was doing a good job. If the Public Defender's Office wanted to swap out attorneys on the case, he said, that is their prerogative. But he added, "this court is not required to appoint a new attorney."
Sopp said she would file a formal motion to withdraw. Judge Daniel set a hearing date to hear that issue on Nov. 26.