Huston attorney to be questioned

A Havre man charged with embezzling federal funds from Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation may have his trial put on hold as the judge reviews whether or not his attorney is fit to represent him.

In the Shad Huston v. United States case, the U.S. has moved to disqualify Huston's attorney, Michael Sherwood, because plaintiff attorneys believe he is unable to represent his client due to conflict of interests.

Sherwood originally represented John "Chance" Houle during the trials for his indictment and Houle is slated to be a witness against Huston, wrote Carl Rostad, one of the U.S. attorneys involved in prosecuting both men.

"Our position is that Sherwood cannot provide conflict-free advocacy to Huston when he will be cross-examining a former client who likely shared confidences with him that a zealous lawyer would have to exploit to represent the defendant," Rostad wrote in an email. " ... Basically, we do not think he can represent either defendant at this point."

Federal District Court Judge Brian Morris will review the movement Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Huston's sentence has already been delayed because Sherwood maintained that he made a mistake in Huston's pleading guilty for payments he received from co-defendant Tony Belcourt. He said that there was some confusion as to what the full definition of the charge was and his client had previously pleaded guilty to it due to a misunderstanding of its nature.

The next hearing in the case was scheduled May 4 at 9 a.m. in the Missouri River Federal Courthouse.