Idaho Lawyer’s Resignation Disrupts Defendants Sentencing

CALDWELL, Idaho (KTVB) — The sentencing for a Nampa man convicted of murder was pushed back Friday after his defense attorney resigned from the Idaho State Bar in lieu of discipline.

Raul Edgar Herrera, 21, was found guilty of first-degree murder in July for the beating death of 46-year-old Jeffrey Dyer. Prosecutors say Herrera and an accomplice, 21-year-old Angelo Cervantes, killed the man during a home invasion last year because he failed to hold up his end of a drug deal.

Former Canyon County Prosecutor John Bujak defended Herrera throughout the trial, but voluntarily gave up his law license last Thursday after the Idaho State Bar sought his disbarment on ethical grounds.

Bujak had filed a motion to have Herrera's convictions overturned on grounds of insufficient evidence July 31, but told Judge Juneal Kerrick that he was about to lose his law license and that Herrera would need a new attorney.

That created a problem: Herrera's accomplice Cervantes is represented by the public defender's office and testified against his former friend during trial. The situation created a conflict of interest for the public defender's office, which could not ethically defend Herrera and Cervantes at the same time.