MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — The lead defense attorney for accused killer Jeffrey Willis has taken a job with the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office, 24 Hour News 8 has learned.
It is raising questions about whether that will give the prosecutor an unfair advantage in upcoming trials.
Attorney Brian Hosticka will start working for the prosecutor’s office Tuesday, according to Muskegon County Public Defender Fred Johnson.
Johnson said he plans to ask a judge to rule whether that will give the prosecutor’s office an unfair advantage. It’s not clear whether that will lead to another delay in the trials.
Johnson will take over as the lead defense attorney in the case.
Willis’ trial in the 2014 slaying of jogger Rebekah Bletsch is scheduled to start Sept. 12 and could take about two weeks.
It was Hosticka who previously filed a motion to dismiss the Bletsch case after claiming that searches of Willis’s jail cell violated his civil rights and gave prosecutor’s an inside look at the defense’s playbook. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against him.
Willis also is awaiting trial on murder and kidnapping charges in the 2013 disappearance of gas station clerk Jessica Heeringa. Additionally, he faces kidnapping charges after a teenager allegedly escaped from his van, eventually leading to his arrest.