WACO, Texas -- Waco 54th State District Court Judge Matt Johnson granted a motion Thursday to remove high-profile Twin Peaks shooting defense attorney Casie Gotro from the retrial of Dallas Bandido Christopher Jake Carrizal.
Carrizal's first trial ended in a mistrial in November when the jury deadlocked after nearly 16 hours of deliberations.
Gotro, who represented Carrizal, asked to withdraw as his attorney on Monday.
On Thursday, after the court appearance, she explained her decision came down to money -- not any sort of conflict with Carrizal. Gotro said she simply can't afford to try another case with this sort of time commitment. According to her, she was paid $1,000 a month for eight months through the Bandido defense fund. That amounts to $8,000 total for her role in the heavily-watched case.
"That's not sustainable for me," said Gotro. I typically always have one pro bono case on my docket, but this case was all consuming. It was a month at an airbnb. I couldn't take any other cases. It was just enough to deal with the late disclosures they were giving me. I physically can't do it."
The jury had been leaning toward not guilty verdicts at the time of the November mistrial, according to multiple sources.
Carrizal is charged with engaging in organized criminal activity with an underlying offense of murder, engaging in organized criminal activity with an underlying offense of aggravated assault, and a charge of directing the activities of a criminal street gang for his alleged involvement in the shootout.
In court Thursday, Gotro said she would make sure Carrizal's next lawyer had all relevant information to prepare a case. Judge Johnson said he would check back in with Carrizal in two weeks to make sure he had a new attorney.
Carrizal's retrial is scheduled by April 2.