By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A man charged with murdering an Upper East Side psychologist with a meat cleaver wants to fire his lawyer, he said Tuesday in court.
David Tarloff, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, claimed he could not trust his lawyer because he believed the attorney had lied to him.
He said "certain things have gone on," but he did not elaborate. The judge asked Tarloff to make his request in writing.
Tarloff was charged in 2008 with repeatedly stabbing psychologist Kathryn Faughey, who shared an East 79th Street office with a psychiatrist who reportedly committed Tarloff back in 1991. Authorities believe it was the other psychiatrist in the office, Kent Shinbach, who was Tarloff's main target. Shinbach was attacked but not killed.
If the alleged murderer's request is approved and a new lawyer is appointed, there would be "major, major delays" in the case, which is already more than two years old, said Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Charles Solomon.
Tarloff's lawyer, Bryan Konoski, said he had not been aware of his client's feelings until Tuesday, when his client expressed them in open court.
"This is the first time that I learned of it," Konoski said. "I'm going to talk to [Tarloff] to find out what's bothering him."
Faughey's family members, who often attend the accused killer's court appearances, believed Tarloff's request for new counsel was a delay tactic.
