New attorney appointed for man accused of killing 2 women in Fort Myers

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)—A pretrial hearing for Rolbert Joachin, the man accused of killing 28-year-old Julia Curvo, took an unexpected turn due to a conflict of interest, Thursday afternoon.

The Public Defender's Office said they have a conflict of interest and can't represent Joachin. In the courtroom, they did not give a clear reason.

Their office filed a document that says in part, "The interests of Rolbert Joachin are so adverse and hostile to those of another client and/or an attorney within the Office of the Public Defender that a conflict of interest exists."

The next in line to represent Joachin would have been the Regional Counsel Office. However, that office also filed a motion to withdraw as counsel, also citing a conflict of interest using similar language as the Public Defender's Office.

Due to those conflicts, the judge had to start making phone calls during court to attorneys who are qualified to defend Joachin on both the second-degree murder charge in the death of Curvo, as well as a separate capital murder charge in the death of Nilufa Easmin. In the capital murder case, the judge said the State Attorney's Office intends to file for the death penalty.

After a few calls, the judge appointed Lee Hollander as Joachin's defense attorney for both murder cases.

Hollander told WINK News reporter Maddie Herron he will be reading up on the case over the weekend and will represent Joachin in court when his pretrial detention hearing reconvenes Monday.

WINK News will be in the courtroom for that hearing.