Coleman fires lawyer
Fires lawyer, who said he 'was a bad man and did bad things'

Dustin and Savannah Coleman flank their mother, Elizabeth, as she walks out of the courtroom followed by her daughter Ashley Friday. Steve Coleman was due to be sentenced on Friday afternoon, but a later date was set because he fired his attorney. [Photo by Brian Leddy/Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — State District Court Judge Robert Aragon found himself in a quandary Friday.

He had come to sentence local Indian trader Steve Coleman but at the 11th hour, Coleman threw a wrench into the entire proceedings and fired his attorney and asked for a continuance.

Aragon said that while he didn't like it, he had no choice but to grant the continuance because, otherwise, Coleman would appeal and there was a good chance that the sentencing would have to be held again.

Mike Calligan, the chief deputy prosecutor for the McKinley County DA's office, argued that the sentencing should go on and called Coleman's firing of his attorney a stalling tactic.

DA Karl Gillson agreed, saying Coleman must like "county food better than he does prison food."

Coleman will remain in jail and his no contest pleas to the charges of trying to set his counseling office on fire and firing into the unoccupied home of a deputy sheriff who cited him for DWI still stands.

Throughout the proceedings Friday, Coleman, whose military-cut hair made him almost unrecognizable, was asked why he waited until just three days before Friday's hearing to file the motion firing his attorney and asking for a continuance.

He said that while he had been having problems with his attorney, Sidney Bloom, for months, the final straw was earlier this month when Coleman asked to have character witnesses present at the hearing to testify on his behalf.

"Mr. Bloom stated that I could not have character witnesses because I had no character," Coleman said, adding that he was told by Bloom that he "was a bad person and did bad things,"

Coleman, in a statement read to the court, said Bloom was paid $38,000 to defend him but made it clear from the beginning that he did not have a very good opinion of him.

He said that Bloom had made comments to him and his wife like "Steve is a bad guy, you are a bad guy's wife and I'm a bad guy's attorney."

When his wife, Liz, asked Bloom to file a motion allowing Coleman to stay at home under house arrest until the sentencing, Coleman said "Steve is a bad guy and he needs to stay where he is."

His relationship with Bloom apparently has been bad for months.

Coleman said that when he agreed to a plea to the charges against him, Bloom never showed him a copy of it until just a few moments before the hearing on the matter began.

"Mr. Bloom has never visited me here at the detention center and our visits are usually limited to 15 to 20 minutes before court starts," Coleman told Aragon. "He does allow me to call him but the calls are usually one to two minutes long and I usually felt more confused when I hang up than before I called.

"Our visits in Albuquerque were also limited to five to 10 minutes a meeting; only a couple lasted longer than that," he said, adding that the only thing Bloom seemed to care about was banking the money Coleman paid to him.

Bloom was at the hearing and declined to respond to Coleman's accusations, saying to Aragon only that it was obvious that he could not work with him any longer and that the court should allow him to withdraw as Coleman's counsel.

Later, after the hearing, he was asked as he was leaving the courthouse if there was anything he wanted to say and he replied, "Good-bye."

Gillson said Coleman may be using this as a tactic to reduce the amount of time he will have to serve in state prison because every day he remains in the county jail is one less day he would have to serve in the state facility.

But Coleman said during the hearing that his sole purpose in firing Bloom and getting a new attorney was to be able to present testimony on his own behalf, something that could not have happened if Bloom continued representing him.

Coleman told the court that he has hired Monica Baca, an Albuquerque attorney, to represent him.

Aragon ruled that Bloom would continue to be at least on paper Coleman's attorney until Baca filed papers asking the court to recognize her as Coleman's attorney.

Bloom wasn't happy with that, saying he had no plans to do anything for Coleman or act as his attorney.