A dispute over attorneys in Miami death-penalty case could end up in Tallahassee

Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald on May 14, 2026

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Ian Jackson hired and paid for an attorney to defend him in a 2020 murder case. But two years after his second-degree murder arrest, Miami prosecutors successfully sought a first-degree murder indictment — and opted to seek the death penalty.

Jackson, 32, is accused of killing two men minutes apart on June 22, 2020. One of the killings transpired in Miami Gardens, the other in West Park. He was originally charged in two separate cases in Miami-Dade and Broward, although the Broward charge was dropped in 2022 when Miami prosecutors took over the case, records show.

Days after prosecutors’ announcement, Jackson said he could not afford to hire a second attorney, as is the norm for death-penalty cases. So Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Alberto Milian appointed a second attorney to Jackson’s case.

Whether Jackson could be appointed the second lawyer for his defense was at the center of an opinion handed down by the 3rd District Court of Appeal on Wednesday. On the panel deciding the case were Judges Ivan Fernandez, Norma Lindsey and Fleur Lobree.

In the opinion, penned by Judge Lobree, the appeals court gave Jackson two options: either he keeps his current attorney — or he dismisses the lawyer and gets two court-appointed attorneys.

The court, in an unusual move, also requested that the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee review the case because it concerned a “question of great public importance.”

The Florida Supreme Court has discretion on whether its justices will hear Jackson’s case — although it is likely because of the case’s statewide effect.

“It’s a right-to-counsel issue,” said attorney Dan Tibbitt, who wrote a brief in the case on behalf of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “... It puts both the defendant and the defense lawyer in an impossible situation.”

The association filed a brief in support of Jackson, who argued that his constitutional rights to legal representation would be violated if he were not allowed to keep the court-appointed attorney.

The Justice Administrative Commission, the state agency that pays and oversees court-appointed lawyers in criminal cases, sought to avoid footing the bill for Jackson’s second attorney. The JAC, according to the opinion, pointed out how Florida law bars the appointment of a lawyer at taxpayers’ expense when a defendant has already hired an attorney.

In the opinion, the 3rd District Court of Appeal discussed how state laws on appointed legal counsel contradicted one another.

One statute said judges “may not” appoint an attorney if the defendant has hired a lawyer, according to the opinion. Another allows judges to appoint an attorney in death-penalty cases.

But another section of the statutes further complicates the case, the opinion says:

A defendant can only get a court-appointed attorney after a public defender’s office or criminal conflict counsel — which are available for people who cannot afford legal representation — withdraws from the case because of a conflict of interest.

In Jackson’s case, the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office and the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, 3rd Region said they could not represent Jackson alongside his private attorney.

Jackson’s case is not the only time a similar issue has come up on appeal. In 1999, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a defendant represented by “volunteer counsel” in a death-penalty case could have a court-appointed attorney on his legal team.

However, the 3rd District Court of Appeal said that case should not apply to Jackson’s because state laws have changed in the almost three decades since that case was decided.

It is unclear how long it would take for Jackson’s case to reach the state’s highest court, if the justices decide to hear it.

Jackson’s murder case remains pending in Miami court. He has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges.

Investigators say he carjacked and gunned down 63-year-old Roy Gissendanner in a residential area on the 5800 block of SW 27th St. in West Park. Deputies found Gissendanner lying in the grass and suffering from gunshots in his head and torso.

Gissendanner’s 2003 gold Ford Taurus was later spotted — with Jackson driving it — at a gas station on North Miami Avenue, according to investigators. There, police say, Jackson fatally shot O’Neil William.

Jackson’s next hearing in Miami court is set for June 16.