Illinois Official Reports 

Supreme Court

People v. Cole, 2017 IL 120997

Caption in Supreme

Court:

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellee, v. 

SALIMAH COLE (Amy P. Campanelli, Appellant).

Docket No. 120997

Filed November 30, 2017

Decision Under 

Review

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County, the Hon. Michele 

Pitman, Judge, presiding. 

Judgment Circuit court judgment affirmed.

Adjudication of direct civil contempt vacated.

Counsel on

Appeal

Michael A. Scodro and Samuel D. Block, of Mayer Brown LLP, and 

Charles B. Sklarsky, Clifford W. Berlow, Ramon Villalpando, Briana 

T. Sprick Schuster, and Nathaniel K.S. Wackman, of Jenner & Block 

LLP, both of Chicago, for contemnor-appellant.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, of Springfield, and Kimberly M. 

Foxx, State’s Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg, Assistant 

State’s Attorney, of counsel), for the People.

Thomas F. Geselbracht, of DLA Piper LLP (US), of Chicago, for 

amicus curiae National Association for Public Defense.
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Kimberly A. Jansen and Leigh C. Bonsall, of Hinshaw & Culbertson 

LLP, of Chicago, for amici curiae Vivien Gross, of Chicago Kent 

College of Law, and Steven Lubet and Robert Burns, of Northwestern 

Pritzker School of Law.

Carol A. Brook, Martin V. Sinclair, Jr., Sarah L. Rosenbluth, and 

Natalie Feigenbaum, all of Chicago, for amicus curiae National 

Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Justices JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the judgment of the court, with 

opinion.

Chief Justice Karmeier and Justices Freeman, Kilbride, Garman, 

Burke, and Theis concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION 

¶ 1 On June 15, 2016, the circuit court of Cook County entered an order of adjudication of 

direct civil contempt against contemnor, Amy P. Campanelli, the Cook County public 

defender, and sanctioned Campanelli $250 per day until she purged herself of direct civil 

contempt or was otherwise discharged by due process of law. Campanelli filed a notice of 

appeal to the Appellate Court, First District. Campanelli also filed an emergency motion to 

stay the fines imposed by the trial court. The appellate court granted Campanelli’s motion to 

stay the fines. 

¶ 2 The State then filed a motion for direct appeal to this court pursuant to Illinois Supreme 

Court Rule 302(b) (eff. Oct. 4, 2011). On July 29, 2016, this court allowed the State’s motion 

for direct appeal and transferred the appeal of the case from the appellate court to this court. 

This court also allowed the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National 

Association for Public Defense, and Professors Vivian Gross, Steven Lubet, and Robert Burns 

to file amicus curiae briefs in support of contemnor Campanelli. Ill. S. Ct. R. 345 (eff. Sept. 

20, 2010). 

¶ 3 BACKGROUND 

¶ 4 Defendant Salimah Cole was charged in a 16-count indictment with 6 counts of first degree 

murder, 2 counts of armed robbery with a firearm, 5 counts of aggravated kidnapping, 1 count 

of aggravated arson, and 2 counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle. The charges 

stemmed from the September 30, 2015, shooting, robbery, and kidnapping of La Prentis Cudjo 

and the robbery and kidnapping of Charles Morgan. Ashley Washington, Allen Whitehead, 

Zacchaeus Reed Jr., Julian Morgan, and Brianna Sago were also charged in connection with 

those crimes. 
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¶ 5 Cole appeared in court on April 12, 2016. A Cook County assistant public defender 

appeared as a friend of the court, as well as to defendant Cole, and informed the court that 

Cole’s mother had retained private counsel, who would need a continuance of a week or two. 

Accordingly, the trial court set the next court date for May 10, 2016. 

¶ 6 At the May 10, 2016, court date, Cole informed the trial court that she was not able to 

afford private counsel. The trial court stated that it would appoint the public defender to 

represent Cole. Contemnor Amy P. Campanelli, the public defender of Cook County, then 

asked the court not to appoint the office of the public defender to represent Cole. Campanelli 

asked for leave of court to file a notice of intent to refuse appointment and to ask for 

appointment of counsel other than the public defender. When asked to explain her motion, 

Campanelli stated that she actually was refusing the appointment. Campanelli informed the 

court that the public defender could not represent Cole because there was a conflict of interest 

due to the codefendants in the case. Campanelli explained that four of Cole’s five codefendants 

were charged with the exact same offenses as Cole. In addition, codefendants Reed and 

Whitehouse were also charged with intimidation of codefendant Washington, for threatening 

to harm Washington and her family if she worked with the police on the murder case. 

¶ 7 The trial court then asked Campanelli to explain the direct conflict to the court. Campanelli 

clarified that there was a potential for conflict. Campanelli asserted that she did not have to 

wait until a conflict developed, nor could she divulge attorney-client privileged information in 

order to inform the court of those conflicts. After considering the matter, the trial court 

appointed the public defender of Cook County to represent Cole, over Campanelli’s objection. 

Campanelli asked the court to hold her in friendly contempt and to impose a nominal sanction 

so that she could seek appellate review of the court’s decision. The trial court took the request 

under advisement and asked Campanelli to put the basis for her refusal to represent Cole in 

writing. 

¶ 8 Campanelli then filed a notice of intent to refuse appointment and to request appointment 

of counsel other than the public defender of Cook County. In her notice, Campanelli argued 

that every client has a right to be represented by conflict-free counsel and that concurrent 

conflicts of interest are prohibited by Rule 1.7 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct of 

2010 (eff. Jan. 1, 2010). Campanelli noted that Rule 1.7 provided that conflicts arise whenever 

the interests of one client are directly adverse to the interests of another client or whenever the 

representation of a client is materially limited. Based upon Rule 1.7, Campanelli stated that she 

could not accept appointment to represent Cole when she was already representing five other 

codefendants. Campanelli indicated that she also had moved to withdraw from representing 

codefendants Whitehead, Reed Jr., Morgan, and Sago, due to concurrent conflicts with one 

another and with codefendant Washington.1

 Because she was bringing the conflict of interest 

to the court’s attention at an early stage, Campanelli claimed that it was incumbent on the court 

to take action and alleviate the conflict by appointing private counsel. 

¶ 9 In addition to citing Rule 1.7, Campanelli contended that the office of the Cook County 

public defender had a conflict of interest in representing Cole because the office of the Cook 

County public defender is a law firm as set forth in Rule 1.10 of the Illinois Rules of 

 

1At a hearing on July 18, 2016, the trial court granted Campanelli’s motion to withdraw from the 

representation of codefendants Whitehead and Reed, finding a conflict of interest existed where 

Whitehead and Reed had been charged with intimidating codefendant Washington. 
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Professional Conduct of 2010 (eff. Jan. 1, 2010). Consequently, Campanelli refused to accept 

appointment to represent Cole. 

¶ 10 At a hearing on May 19, 2016, the trial court found that Cole was indigent and should be 

represented by the office of the Cook County public defender. Campanelli again told the court 

that she could not represent Cole because she was in conflict due to her representation of five 

other codefendants in the case. Campanelli stated that, pursuant to the Illinois Rules of 

Professional Conduct adopted in 2010, she could not represent more than one client on a case 

because of the potential conflict. Campanelli also noted that the Counties Code (55 ILCS 

5/3-4006 (West 2016)) allows a court to appoint counsel other than the public defender if the 

appointment of the public defender would prejudice the defendant. The trial court pointed out 

that it had not made a finding that appointment of the public defender would prejudice the 

defendant. Campanelli conceded that the trial court had not made a finding of prejudice but 

stated she had given the trial court enough testimony that she would be in conflict of interest if 

forced to represent Cole. 

¶ 11 In response to further questioning from the trial court, Campanelli stated that there were 

approximately 518 attorneys in the office of the Cook County public defender and that those 

518 attorneys did not all share the same supervisors. With regard to the four other motions to 

withdraw that Campanelli had filed concerning Cole’s codefendants, Campanelli 

acknowledged that she had four separate attorneys from different divisions in her office 

representing those defendants. In addition, those assistant public defenders each had a different 

supervisor, but those supervisors might report to the same deputy director. Campanelli 

conceded that she has a multiple defender division for multiple offender cases but contended 

that she was in conflict even in those cases. 

¶ 12 The trial court then reiterated that defendant Cole was in custody without legal 

representation, that Cole was indigent and had a right to counsel, and that, as public defender 

of Cook County, Campanelli was sworn to represent an indigent defendant unless the court 

finds that the defendant’s rights would be prejudiced. The trial court observed that it had not 

found Cole’s rights to be prejudiced, so that Campanelli’s refusal to represent Cole was 

contemptuous. Campanelli continued to refuse to follow the order of the court to represent 

Cole, repeating that she could not represent Cole due to a conflict. Campanelli denied that she 

was violating the Counties Code in refusing to represent Cole, arguing that in fact she would be 

violating the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct of 2010 in representing Cole. 

¶ 13 The trial court again stated that Campanelli was sworn to represent an indigent defendant 

unless the court finds that the defendant’s rights would be prejudiced. The trial court did not 

find Cole’s rights to be prejudiced and asked Campanelli to carefully consider her refusal to 

represent Cole. The trial court then continued the case for ruling on Campanelli’s request for 

contempt. The trial court also appointed private counsel to represent Cole in light of 

Campanelli’s refusal.

¶ 14 Campanelli next appeared before the court on June 15, 2016. The trial court noted that it 

had appointed private counsel for Cole because she was an indigent defendant without 

representation of counsel. The trial court repeated that it had found there was no conflict in 

Campanelli representing Cole and again ordered Campanelli to represent Cole, indicating that 

it would vacate the appointment of private counsel upon Campanelli’s acceptance of the 

appointment. 
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¶ 15 Campanelli again stated that she was in conflict in representing Cole, the sixth defendant in 

a six-defendant murder case, when she already represented five of those defendants. 

Campanelli indicated that she had filed motions to withdraw with regard to four of the five 

other defendants, as she was in conflict of interest with those defendants also. Campanelli 

conceded that she had separate attorneys assigned to those defendants but contended that, 

under the Counties Code (55 ILCS 5/3-4006 (West 2016)), she was the attorney for every 

client assigned to her office. Campanelli also asserted that her office was a law firm and 

wanted to be treated like any other law firm in the state of Illinois for purposes of conflict of 

interest. Campanelli stated that she represents every client in the public defender’s office and 

had a right to know every fact, every strategy, and every defense of every case. If not allowed 

to know the confidences between lawyers, she would not be acting as the public defender of 

Cook County. 

¶ 16 The trial court again ordered Campanelli to represent Cole and warned that her refusal to 

represent Cole would be in direct contempt of court. Campanelli responded that she continued 

to refuse to represent Cole. The trial court therefore found that Campanelli had willfully and 

contemptuously refused to accept the trial court’s appointment to represent Cole after being 

ordered to do so. The trial court found Campanelli’s refusal to be without basis, as there was no 

prejudice to Cole if Campanelli accepted the appointment. The trial court therefore ordered 

that Campanelli was in direct civil contempt for her willful failure to obey a direct order of the 

court. The trial court imposed a sanction consisting of a fine of $250 per day until such time as 

Campanelli purged herself of direct civil contempt by accepting appointment as counsel for 

defendant Cole or until she was otherwise discharged by due process of law. 

¶ 17 ANALYSIS 

¶ 18 This case comes before this court on appeal of the trial court’s order finding Campanelli to 

be in direct civil contempt and imposing sanctions. A court is vested with the inherent power to 

enforce its orders and to preserve the dignity of the court by the use of contempt proceedings. 

In re Baker, 71 Ill. 2d 480, 484 (1978). An order cast in terms of a contempt proceeding 

imposing sanctions is a final and appealable order. People ex rel. Scott v. Silverstein, 87 Ill. 2d 

167, 171-72 (1981). This is because the imposition of a sanction for contempt, while occurring 

within the context of another proceeding, “is an original special proceeding, collateral to and 

independent of, the case in which the contempt arises.” Id. at 172. In reviewing the contempt 

order, we must examine the propriety of the trial court’s order directing Campanelli to accept 

appointment as counsel for Cole. If the order was invalid, the contempt order must be reversed. 

People v. Shukovsky, 128 Ill. 2d 210, 222 (1988). 

¶ 19 Whether a party is guilty of contempt is a question of fact for the trial court. In re Marriage 

of Logston, 103 Ill. 2d 266, 286-87 (1984). Logston held that a reviewing court will not disturb 

the trial court’s finding unless it is against the manifest weight of the evidence or the record 

reflects an abuse of discretion. Id. at 287. In Norskog v. Pfiel, 197 Ill. 2d 60, 70-71 (2001), the 

court clarified that the proper standard of review depends on the question that was answered in 

the trial court. Thus, if the facts are uncontroverted and the issue is the trial court’s application 

of the law to the facts, a reviewing court may apply de novo review. Id.

¶ 20 In this case, to the extent our review concerns application of this court’s rules, we find that 

de novo review is appropriate. When interpreting supreme court rules, this court is guided by 
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the same principles applicable to construction of statutes. People v. Salem, 2016 IL 118693, 

¶ 11. The construction of a statute is a question of law that is reviewed de novo. People v. 

Smith, 236 Ill. 2d 162, 167 (2010). To the extent our review concerns the trial court’s 

adjudication of contempt, we find it is appropriate to apply an abuse of discretion standard. 

¶ 21 In this court, as in the trial court, Campanelli argues that she is barred from representing 

Cole due to a conflict of interest between Cole and her codefendants. Campanelli asserts that 

any representation of more than one defendant in a multiple defendant case presents a conflict 

of interest for the office of the public defender. Campanelli claims a conflict based upon the 

sixth amendment to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amend. VI), article I, section 

8, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 8), and Rules 1.10 and 1.7 of the Illinois 

Rules of Professional Conduct of 2010 (eff. Jan. 1, 2010). 

¶ 22 Those accused of crime have a sixth amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel. 

People v. Spreitzer, 123 Ill. 2d 1, 13 (1988) (citing Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 343 

(1980), and Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 70 (1942)). Effective assistance of counsel 

means assistance by an attorney whose allegiance to his client is not diluted by conflicting 

interests or inconsistent obligations. Spreitzer, 123 Ill. 2d at 13-14. The United States Supreme 

Court has held that requiring or permitting a single attorney to represent codefendants is not 

per se violative of the constitutional guarantee of the effective assistance of counsel. Holloway 

v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475, 482 (1978). The court in Spreitzer also recognized that treating 

multiple representation of codefendants as creating a per se conflict would put an end to 

multiple representation altogether, “since a ‘possible conflict inheres in almost every instance 

of multiple representation,’ and a per se rule would ‘preclude multiple representation even in 

cases where “[a] common defense *** gives strength against a common attack.” ’ ” Spreitzer, 

123 Ill. 2d at 17 (quoting Cuyler, 446 U.S. at 348, quoting Glasser, 315 U.S. at 92). Cuyler

recognized, however, that since a possible conflict of interest inheres in almost every instance 

of multiple representation, a defendant who objects to multiple representation must have the 

opportunity to show that potential conflicts imperil his right to a fair trial. Cuyler, 446 U.S. at 

348. 

¶ 23 Campanelli maintains that she did show that potential conflicts imperiled Cole’s right to a 

fair trial, so that the trial court erred in finding her in direct contempt of court. In making this 

argument, Campanelli contends that representation by the office of the Cook County public 

defender is tantamount to representation by a single attorney for purposes of conflict of interest 

analysis. Consequently, before we address whether Campanelli established that potential 

conflicts imperiled Cole’s right to a fair trial, we first must address Campanelli’s claim that 

representation by the public defender constitutes representation by a single attorney. 

¶ 24 In support of this argument, Campanelli points to Rule 1.10 of the Illinois Rules of 

Professional Conduct of 2010. Rule 1.10(a) provides: 

“While lawyers are associated in a firm, none of them shall knowingly represent a 

client when any one of them practicing alone would be prohibited from doing so by 

Rules 1.7 or 1.9, unless the prohibition is based on a personal interest of the prohibited 

lawyer and does not present a significant risk of materially limiting the representation 

of the client by the remaining lawyers in the firm.” Ill. R. Prof’l Conduct (2010) R. 

1.10(a) (eff. Jan. 1, 2010). 

Comment 1 to Rule 1.10 explains: 
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“For purposes of the Rules of Professional Conduct, the term ‘firm’ denotes lawyers in 

a law partnership, professional corporation, sole proprietorship or other association 

authorized to practice law; or lawyers employed in a legal services organization or the 

legal department of a corporation or other organization. See Rule 1.0(c). Whether two 

or more lawyers constitute a firm within this definition can depend on the specific 

facts.” Ill. R. Prof’l Conduct (2010) R. 1.10 cmt. 1 (eff. Jan. 1, 2010).

¶ 25 Campanelli argues that the office of the public defender is a “firm,” which means that its 

associated members—the assistant public defenders—may not represent clients with 

conflicting interests. In making this argument, Campanelli acknowledges that People v. 

Robinson, 79 Ill. 2d 147 (1979), held that a public defender’s office is not a firm. However, 

Campanelli maintains that Robinson did not resolve the question of whether the office of the 

public defender is a firm within the definition of Rule 1.10 because the Robinson decision 

predated the drafting of the written rules of professional conduct in Illinois. 

¶ 26 The Robinson decision was filed in 1979. Campanelli points out that the Illinois Code of 

Professional Responsibility was adopted on June 3, 1980, and was replaced by the Illinois 

Rules of Professional Conduct in 1990, which then were substantially amended in 2010. 

Therefore, Robinson could not have resolved whether, under the current rules, the office of the 

public defender is an “association authorized to practice law” or “a legal services organization” 

because Robinson did not construe the language of Rule 1.10. Campanelli contends that, under 

the plain language of Rule 1.10, the office of the public defender fits either description, so that 

it is a “firm” within the plain meaning of Rule 1.10. 

¶ 27 As Campanelli concedes, Robinson considered “whether the individual attorneys 

employed in the office of a public defender are members of an entity subject to the generally 

recognized rule that if an attorney is disqualified by reason of a conflict of interest that no other 

partner or associate of his firm may continue with the representation.” Id. at 154. Robinson

held that “the avoidance of conflicts of interest which result in failure to provide effective 

assistance of counsel does not require us to hold that the individual attorneys who comprise the 

staff of a public defender are members of an entity which should be subject to the rule that if 

one attorney is disqualified by reason of a conflict of interest then no other member of the 

entity may continue with the representation.” Id. at 158-59. 

¶ 28 Following Robinson, in People v. Miller, 79 Ill. 2d 454 (1980), the court reiterated that it 

had rejected the claim that a public defender’s office is to be treated as a law firm or an “entity” 

in considering a conflict of interest claim. Miller explained that where one assistant public 

defender might not effectively represent two competing interests, “two assistants might be able 

to do so, and in determining whether separate assistants can properly represent competing 

interests, we are to apply the general guidelines enunciated in our prior cases and those of the 

United States Supreme Court on the subject of conflicts of interest.” Id. at 461. 

¶ 29 As noted, Campanelli claims that Robinson does not control on the issue of whether the 

office of the Cook County public defender is a firm for purposes of Rule 1.10 because 

Robinson was decided before the rules were adopted. Campanelli argues that the Robinson

decision cannot be used to construe the plain language in Rule 1.10 defining “firm” because 

the Robinson court never addressed the language in the rule. In making this argument, 

however, Campanelli misunderstands this court’s case law concerning the interpretation of 

statutes and court rules. 
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¶ 30 It is well settled that when statutes are enacted after judicial opinions are published, it must 

be presumed that the legislature acted with knowledge of the prevailing case law. People v. 

Hickman, 163 Ill. 2d 250, 262 (1994). As set forth supra, this court is guided by the same 

principles applicable to the construction of statutes when interpreting supreme court rules. 

Salem, 2016 IL 118693, ¶ 11. Consequently, in adopting the Illinois Code of Professional 

Responsibility, and later the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct and the 2010 amendments 

to those rules, we presume that the court was well aware of its own case law holding that the 

office of the public defender is not a law firm for purposes of conflict of interest. This court has 

never departed from its precedent to expressly include the office of the public defender within 

the definition of a law firm, “association authorized to practice law,” or “a legal services 

organization” in its Code of Professional Responsibility or Rules of Professional Conduct. 

Absent an express repudiation of the Robinson holding in this court’s Rules of Professional 

Conduct, we find no basis to declare that Robinson is no longer good law or that Rule 1.10 now 

includes the office of public defender within its definition of law firms for purposes of a 

conflict of interest. 

¶ 31 Campanelli then urges this court to overrule Robinson. Campanelli contends that Robinson

failed to provide a reasoned analysis for its holding, relying as its sole explanation on “an 

unsupported statement” that treating the office of the public defender as a firm “would lead to 

the appointment of inadequate and inexperienced private counsel.” Campanelli asserts that 

such speculation alone does not justify distortion of the plain meaning of Rule 1.10. 

¶ 32 We again point out that the plain meaning of “firm” in Rule 1.10 necessarily excludes 

public defender offices from its definition. Moreover, the risk of appointing inadequate and 

inexperienced private counsel was not the basis for the Robinson decision. Robinson did 

consider case law from other jurisdictions, as well as the American Bar Association Standards 

Relating to the Administration of Criminal Justice, which found that a public defender’s office 

is a firm for purposes of conflict of interest analysis. Robinson also considered the size and 

organization of the state’s public defender offices. Robinson then concluded that, “[u]pon 

review of the authorities and consideration of the diversity of organization of the offices of 

public defenders,” the avoidance of conflicts of interest did not require the court to hold that 

the public defender’s office was analogous to a law firm. Robinson, 79 Ill. 2d at 158-59. 

¶ 33 In reaching that conclusion, the court did note that, “[i]n many instances the application of 

such a per se rule would require the appointment of counsel with virtually no experience in the 

trial of criminal matters, thus raising, with justification, the question of competency of 

counsel.” Id. at 159. Although the court noted that application of a per se rule might have such 

consequences, this was not the basis for the court’s decision. Rather, Robinson balanced that 

possibility against the remote possibility that an experienced member of the public defender’s 

staff might labor under a conflict of interest because another member of the staff was so 

burdened and found that the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, as well as its own 

decisions, furnished adequate guidance to avoid conflicts of interest which would impede the 

furnishing of effective assistance of counsel. Id. at 159-60.

¶ 34 The court later explained, in People v. Lewis, 88 Ill. 2d 429, 438 (1981), that the Robinson

court “did not deem a personal allegiance or loyalty to the public defender’s office sufficient to 

justify a rule that if one attorney employed by such an office were disqualified by reason of a 

conflict of interest, no other attorney employed by that office could undertake the 
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representation.” The basis for the Robinson rule again was repeated in People v. Banks, 121 Ill. 

2d 36, 42 (1987), where the court stated that “Robinson rejected a per se conflicts rule 

precisely because it finds that an assistant public defender’s loyalty towards his office is not 

great enough to impute to him the conflicts of other assistants.” 

¶ 35 Robinson, then, based its holding on the fact that the adversary tendency of lawyers within 

the public defender’s office was sufficient protection against a conflict of interest between 

assistant public defenders. This court and our appellate court have consistently applied 

Robinson for nearly 40 years. Consequently, we find no merit to Campanelli’s claim that the 

decision was poorly reasoned and unworkable. 

¶ 36 Having found that the office of the public defender is not a “firm” for purposes of Rule 

1.10, we next address Campanelli’s claim that Rule 1.7 bars the public defender from 

representing multiple defendants in a single prosecution. Rule 1.7 provides: 

“(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a lawyer shall not represent a client if the 

representation involves a concurrent conflict of interest. A concurrent conflict of 

interest exists if: 

 (1) the representation of one client will be directly adverse to another client; or 

 (2) there is a significant risk that the representation of one or more clients will 

be materially limited by the lawyer’s responsibilities to another client, a former 

client or a third person or by a personal interest of the lawyer.” Ill. R. Prof’l 

Conduct (2010) R. 1.7 (eff. Jan. 1, 2010). 

Campanelli also points to comment 23 to Rule 1.7, which explains that: 

“[S]imultaneous representation of parties whose interests in litigation may conflict, 

such as coplaintiffs or codefendants, is governed by paragraph (a)(2). A conflict may 

exist by reason of substantial discrepancy in the parties’ testimony, incompatibility in 

positions in relation to an opposing party or the fact that there are substantially different 

possibilities of settlement of the claims or liabilities in question. Such conflicts can 

arise in criminal cases as well as civil. The potential for conflict of interest in 

representing multiple defendants in a criminal case is so grave that ordinarily a lawyer 

should decline to represent more than one codefendant.” Ill. R. Prof’l Conduct (2010) 

R. 1.7 cmt. 23 (eff. Jan. 1, 2010). 

Campanelli argues that Rule 1.7 and comment 23 establish that conflicts are inevitable in cases 

of joint representation of codefendants. 

¶ 37 While Rule 1.7 and comment 23 warn of the risk of joint representation of codefendants, 

the rule and comment address the representation of multiple defendants by one attorney. The 

issue here, in contrast, is whether representation of codefendants by different assistant public 

defenders presents a conflict of interest. Spreitzer explained that “[t]he asserted danger in the 

Banks-Robinson-Spicer line of cases was not so much that a single lawyer would attempt to 

represent the conflicting interests of two defendants as that a lawyer’s loyalty to his client 

would be diluted by a conflicting allegiance to a fellow lawyer.” Spreitzer, 123 Ill. 2d at 21. 

¶ 38 As discussed, with regard to the public defender’s office, this court has declined to adopt a 

per se rule finding a conflict of interest where different assistant public defenders represent 

codefendants in a case. Consequently, with regard to the public defender’s office, a 

case-by-case inquiry “is contemplated whereby it is determined whether any facts peculiar to 

the case preclude the representation of competing interests by separate members of the public 
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defender’s office.” Miller, 79 Ill. 2d at 462. The mere fact that codefendants in a case are 

represented by separate members of the public defender’s office does not violate Rule 1.7.

¶ 39 Campanelli then argues that appointing the office of the public defender to represent 

codefendants always presents a conflict of interest under Rule 1.7 because Campanelli, as the 

Cook County public defender, is counsel to all the defendants her office represents. 

Campanelli cites the Counties Code, as well as Burnette v. Terrell, 232 Ill. 2d 522 (2009), in 

support of her argument. 

¶ 40 Campanelli points out that the Counties Code provides: 

“The Public Defender, as directed by the court, shall act as attorney, without fee *** for 

all persons who are held in custody or who are charged with the commission of any 

criminal offense ***.” 55 ILCS 5/3-4006 (West 2016). 

In addition, Burnette held that the circuit court under the Counties Code “appoints the office of 

the public defender to act as the attorney for an indigent defendant” and “does not appoint an 

individual assistant public defender.” Burnette, 232 Ill. 2d at 538. Campanelli seizes upon the 

preceding language from Burnette to support her claim that she is the attorney for all 

defendants represented by her office. 

¶ 41 We find Campanelli’s reliance on Burnette to be misplaced. At issue in Burnette was 

whether a circuit court judge had the authority to refuse to allow an assistant public defender to 

represent clients in his courtroom, to remove an assistant public defender from representation 

of a defendant, or to assign a specific assistant public defender to represent a defendant in an 

individual case. The court held that the public defender has the sole authority to make work 

assignments for the assistant public defenders. Id. at 538-39. In so holding, the court noted that, 

under the Counties Code, the circuit court has the authority to direct the public defender to 

represent an indigent defendant but the circuit court does not appoint the individual assistant 

public defender. Id. at 538. 

¶ 42 The fact that the trial court appoints the office of public defender to represent an indigent 

defendant, rather than appointing specific assistant public defenders, does not thereby 

transform the office of the public defender into a single entity for purposes of conflict of 

interest analysis. Similarly, the fact that the appointed public defender has supervisory 

authority over his or her assistant public defenders does not override an assistant public 

defender’s undivided loyalty to his client.

¶ 43 In Banks, the court declined to find a per se conflict of interest where one assistant public 

defender argued the ineffective assistance of another assistant public defender. Banks, 121 Ill. 

2d 36. Banks held that it would be erroneous to assume that public defenders have such an 

allegiance to their office that they would be unable to subordinate that allegiance to the 

interests of their clients. Id. at 43. Pursuant to Campanelli’s argument, an assistant public 

defender would never be able to argue the ineffective assistance of another assistant public 

defender where they were both were under the supervision of the public defender, as the public 

defender then would be arguing her own ineffectiveness. Banks implicitly rejected such an 

analysis in finding that an assistant public defender’s loyalty to his client supersedes his 

allegiance to the office of the public defender. 

¶ 44 The same analysis applies when different assistant public defenders are appointed to 

represent codefendants in a case. While Campanelli has oversight of the approximately 518 

assistant public defenders in her office, it is the assistant public defender appointed to represent 
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a defendant who provides the legal services to that defendant. The assistant public defender’s 

loyalty to his office has not been deemed great enough to impute to him the conflicts of other 

assistant public defenders. Id. at 42. As in Banks, the fact that Campanelli has supervisory 

authority over all the assistant public defenders in the office of the Cook County public 

defender is not sufficient grounds, in and of itself, to disqualify the entire office from 

representing codefendants. 

¶ 45 Campanelli next argues that, in any event, the trial court abused its discretion in appointing 

her to represent Cole because she twice informed the court that a direct conflict of interest 

prevented her from zealously representing Cole. Campanelli points to her written submission 

to the court stating that there was a conflict in representing Cole with respect to her 

codefendants but that “more detail cannot be given without violating the attorney-client 

privilege, which is the very thing the Public Defender is seeking to avoid via the appointment 

of counsel.” When she appeared in court on the issue, Campanelli again told the court she was 

in conflict and could not “divulge attorney-client privilege information that I have learned 

about the other five codefendants in this case in order to tell you what the conflicts in this case 

are.” Citing Holloway, Campanelli contends that it was enough to prove a conflict when she, as 

an officer of the court, represented that Cole would be prejudiced by her appointment. 

¶ 46 Holloway held that if a potential conflict is brought to the attention of the trial court by 

counsel at an early stage, a duty devolves upon the trial court to either appoint separate counsel 

or take adequate steps to ascertain whether the risk of conflict was too remote to warrant 

separate counsel. Holloway, 435 U.S. at 484; accord Spreitzer, 123 Ill. 2d at 18. Holloway

found persuasive decisions holding that an attorney’s request for the appointment of separate 

counsel, based upon his representations as an officer of the court regarding a conflict of 

interest, generally should be granted. Holloway, 435 U.S. at 485. Holloway observed that those 

courts had considered that an attorney representing two defendants in a criminal matter is in the 

best position professionally and ethically to determine when a conflict of interest exists or will 

develop during the course of a trial, that defense attorneys have an obligation upon discovering 

a conflict of interest to advise the court of the problem, and that attorneys, as officers of the 

court, address the judge virtually under oath in making their declarations. Id. at 485-86. 

¶ 47 Campanelli argues that the trial court abused its discretion in ordering her to represent Cole 

in light of Campanelli’s assertion that a conflict of interest prevented her from doing so. 

Campanelli contends that she cannot be ordered to divulge attorney-client privileged 

information in order to establish a conflict. 

¶ 48 Campanelli is correct that counsel cannot be ordered to divulge attorney-client privileged 

information. However, Holloway explained that its holding did not preclude a trial court from 

exploring the adequacy of the basis of defense counsel’s representations regarding a conflict of 

interest without improperly requiring disclosure of the confidential communications of the 

client. Id. at 487. The trial court in this case never ordered Campanelli to divulge confidential 

communications in attempting to ascertain the basis for Campanelli’s refusal to accept the 

appointment to represent Cole. 

¶ 49 Campanelli then argues that the trial court erred in asking her to explain the direct conflict 

regarding the representation of Cole to the court. At oral argument, counsel for Campanelli 

argued that Campanelli need only allege a conflict of interest, without more, in order to 

withdraw from representation. Campanelli cites People v. Jones, 121 Ill. 2d 21, 28 (1988), in 
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arguing she need only allege a potential or possible conflict in order to withdraw from 

representation. 

¶ 50 Although Jones referenced a potential or possible conflict that might deprive a defendant 

of the effective assistance of counsel, Jones discussed a potential or possible conflict in the 

context of the proper procedure when a conflict is brought to the attention of the trial court. 

Jones noted that in Holloway, when a potential conflict is brought to the attention of the trial 

court by counsel before trial or at an early stage of trial, the trial court must take “adequate 

steps” to deal with it. Id. Jones then stated that if “adequate steps” are not taken, the fact of a 

potential or possible conflict might deprive the defendant of the guaranteed assistance of 

counsel. Id. Spreitzer explained that adequate steps require a court to “ascertain whether the 

risk of conflict was too remote to warrant separate counsel.” Spreitzer, 123 Ill. 2d at 18. The 

question in this case, then, is whether the trial court properly found that the risk of conflict in 

the representation of Cole was too remote to warrant separate counsel. 

¶ 51 A defendant raising a potential conflict between two public defenders need only present the 

gist of such a conflict. People v. Hardin, 217 Ill. 2d 289, 303 (2005). “The defendant must 

sketch, in limited detail, a picture of how the working relationship between the public 

defenders created an appearance of impropriety.” Id. However, bare allegations of a conflict 

are not enough, and in the absence of an evidentiary record of conflict, a conflict should not be 

created based on mere speculation. Id. at 302. Relevant factors to consider include whether the 

two public defenders were trial partners in the defendant’s case; whether the public defenders 

where in hierarchical positions where one supervised or was supervised by the other; or 

whether the size, structure, and organization of the office in which they worked affected the 

closeness of any supervision. Id. at 303. 

¶ 52 Here, the trial court found that Campanelli failed to provide any substantive basis that a 

conflict of interest prohibited her from providing legal representation to Cole. Upon review, 

we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s finding. None of the factors deemed relevant 

in Hardin are set forth in the record in this case with regard to the representation of Cole. 

Campanelli conceded that Cole’s codefendants were represented by attorneys from the public 

defender’s multiple defendant division. The office of the Cook County public defender 

describes the multiple defendant division as follows: 

“Attorneys assigned to the Multiple Defendant Division (MDD) of the Law Office 

of the Cook County Public Defender represent clients in felony and first degree murder 

cases where more than one person is accused. These attorneys are very experienced and 

represent indigent accused throughout the county. They act independently of other 

divisions in the office to prevent any effects from a conflict between Public Defender 

clients.” Divisions of the Public Defender’s Office, Cook County Gov’t, 

http://cookcountyil.gov/service/ divisions-public-defenders-office (last visited Nov. 8, 

2017).

Although Campanelli contends that the multiple defendant division itself is always in conflict, 

that assertion is based upon her argument that the office of the Cook County public defender is 

a law firm, as well as her argument that she is the appointed counsel to all the defendants her 

office represents. As discussed supra, we have rejected these arguments. 

¶ 53 Campanelli also acknowledged that there were approximately 518 attorneys employed by 

the office of the Cook County public defender and those 518 attorneys did not all share the 
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same supervisors. Further, the attorneys assigned to represent Cole’s codefendants were from 

different divisions of the public defender’s office, and each had a different supervisor. These 

facts mitigate against a finding of conflict of interest in Campanelli’s representation of Cole.

¶ 54 Although a defendant need only present the gist of a conflict, we find that Campanelli 

proffered only the bare allegations of a conflict, based on mere speculation. In the court 

hearing on May 10, 2016, when asked to explain the direct conflict to the court, Campanelli 

clarified that there was a potential for conflict and asserted that she did not have to wait until a 

conflict developed. In her written submission to the court, Campanelli claimed that there was a 

conflict of interest whenever she was appointed to represent multiple defendants. Again, at the 

May 19, 2016, hearing, Campanelli stated that she could not represent more than one defendant 

because of the potential conflict, although she acknowledged that each codefendant was 

represented by separate attorneys from different divisions of her office, with different 

supervisors. At the June 15, 2016, hearing, Campanelli repeated that she was in conflict 

representing Cole because she already represented five other defendants. 

¶ 55 Despite Campanelli’s attempt to assert a conflict in the public defender’s representation of 

Cole, it is clear that basis for Campanelli’s conflict or potential conflict in representing of Cole 

arises solely from the fact that the office of public defender was appointed to represent more 

than one defendant in this multiple defendant case. Robinson and its progeny have consistently 

rejected that claim. 

¶ 56 We note that even in her brief on appeal, Campanelli’s argument concerning her conflict 

centers on a remote potential for conflict. She argues that it is all but inevitable in a joint 

representation that a conflict of interest will arise and that conflicts are difficult to discern at 

the outset of criminal litigation. Campanelli also argues that waiting to appoint conflict-free 

counsel until a conflict reveals itself is wasteful and often prejudicial. In addition, Campanelli 

asserts that conflicts that do not exist at the outset of a representation may arise later in the 

case. 

¶ 57 These “potential conflicts,” however, are the type that may exist in every case involving 

multiple representation of codefendants. Cuyler recognized that “a possible conflict inheres in 

almost every instance of multiple representation.” Cuyler, 446 U.S. at 348. Nonetheless, the 

United States Supreme Court and this court have declined to find a per se conflict of interest 

simply because multiple representation may involve a conflict of interest. 

¶ 58 At best, Campanelli’s claims of conflict are based upon mere speculation that joint 

representation of codefendants by assistant public defenders will, at some point, result in 

conflict. These claims fail to provide an evidentiary record of conflict, and a conflict cannot be 

created on mere speculation. 

¶ 59 As noted, under Holloway and Spreitzer, when a potential conflict is brought to the 

attention of the trial court at an early stage, a duty devolves upon the trial court to either 

appoint separate counsel or to take adequate steps to ascertain whether the risk of conflict was 

too remote to warrant separate counsel. Here, the trial court took adequate steps to ascertain 

that the risk of conflict was too remote to warrant separate counsel. Under the circumstances, 

then, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that there would be no prejudice to 

Cole in appointing the office of the Cook County public defender to represent her. 

¶ 60 Having found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering Campanelli to 

represent Cole, it follows that the trial court did not err in adjudicating Campanelli to be in 
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direct civil contempt of court. Section 3-4006 of the Counties Code provides that “[t]he Public 

Defender, as directed by the court, shall act as attorney, without fee, before any court within 

any county for all persons who are held in custody or who are charged with the commission of 

any criminal offense, and who the court finds are unable to employ counsel.” (Emphasis 

added.) 55 ILCS 5/3-4006 (West 2016). Here, the trial court directed Campanelli, the public 

defender, to act as attorney for Cole. Campanelli refused the trial court’s direction. The trial 

court therefore properly invoked its inherent power to enforce its order and preserve the 

dignity of the court by use of contempt proceedings. 

¶ 61 Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s judgment finding Campanelli to be in direct civil 

contempt and imposing sanctions for that contempt. We note, however, that the record is clear 

that the trial court understood Campanelli’s contempt was purely a formal one and that the 

motivation for the contempt was solely to permit an appeal of the issue of multiple 

representation of defendants in light of the 2010 revisions to the Illinois Rules of Professional 

Conduct. Given these circumstances, we vacate the order of the trial court holding Campanelli 

in contempt and vacate the award of sanctions, despite our finding that the contempt order and 

award of sanctions were valid. See Shukovsky, 128 Ill. 2d at 231 (vacating contempt order 

where contempt was purely formal and motivation was to permit examination of a question 

through appeal); Jiotis v. Burr Ridge Park District, 2014 IL App (2d) 121293, ¶ 57 (where 

contemnor refuses to comply with court order in good-faith effort to secure an interpretation of 

an issue without direct precedent, it is appropriate to vacate the contempt on appeal). 

¶ 62 Moreover, because the underlying case against Cole has continued to proceed with 

appointed counsel since May 19, 2016, we find, for purposes of judicial economy, that 

appointed counsel shall continue to represent Cole in the underlying case. We decline to order 

Campanelli to now accept representation of Cole. 

¶ 63 For all the preceding reasons, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County 

finding contemnor Amy Campanelli to be in direct civil contempt and imposing sanctions for 

that contempt. Nonetheless, we vacate the trial court’s order adjudicating Campanelli in 

contempt and imposing sanctions. 

¶ 64 Circuit court judgment affirmed. 

¶ 65 Adjudication of direct civil contempt vacated.