Cotlar said his client was led to believe by HPD investigators on Friday that he no longer had a lawyer. His previous lawyer, Thomas Burton, had motioned to withdraw from the case on Wednesday. The motion was granted on Thursday and Cotlar was immediately appointed to the case, court records show.
Vence did not know that Cotlar was his new lawery and he was under the impression that his family sent Quanell to the jail to represent him. Quanell indicated that he would provide Vence with new lawyers and that “everything was going to be fine.”
“Quanell X completely misled my client,” Cotlar said. “I don’t know how he was able to get into the jail.”
Details that Quanell claimed to have learned from Vence during that brief jailhouse meeting did not happen, Cotlar continued.
“
My client did not confess to Quanell. He did not use the word ‘accident’ with Quanell,” Cotlar said. “Quanell makes his living off of reward money.”
“It certainly appears he’s attempting to practice law without a license,” Burton said.
In a phone call, Quanell said he was not representing Vence or his family at the time of his visit. He said he went to the jail to see Vence because “I wanted to.”
“I felt like I needed to,” he said.
During the news conference at HPD headquarters, Finner declined to comment on Quanell’s visit.
“He’s been working with law enforcement for years,” Finner said. “I don’t know how he got there, or what was said when he was there. I know that he did get some information about the whereabouts of this little angel.”
Search for Maleah leads to child’s body in Arkansas
That^^^ is all a bit confusing. DV's new attorney denies that his client told Q where the body was.