Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/494/1039/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 11:10:18+00:00

Document:
and Fourteenth Amendments, Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 231, 2973 (1976) (MARSHALL, J., dissenting), I would grant the petition for certiorari and vacate the death penalty in this case. Even if I did not take this view, I would grant the petition because it raises several important and recurring questions concerning a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel unburdened by any conflict of interest. First, on what showing must a trial court explore a possible conflict on the part of a defendant's attorney? Second, if a defendant's attorney had an actual conflict, must the defendant demonstrate that the conflict adversely affected the attorney's performance in order to obtain a new trial?
rela tionship with Munro, it refused to reverse the convictions and sentence on the ground that Bonin had not demonstrated that Charvet's performance as counsel was adversely affected by this conflict of interest . 47 Cal.3d 808, 765 P.2d 460 (1989).
evidence, but from the circumstances of the representation. In particular, the petitioners' lawyer, who had been selected and paid by their employer, pressed a constitutional attack rather than arguing for leniency and a reduction in the fines, possibly to create a test case for the petitioners' employer. Wood v. Georgia, 450 U.S., at 272. Moreover, this Court found that the "the fact that the State raised the conflict problem explicitly and requested that the court look into it" should have alerted the trial court to the need for further inquiry. Id., at 273. The Court held that although it was difficult to determine from the appellate record whether an actual conflict was present, "the possibility of a conflict of interest was sufficiently apparent at the time of the revocation hearing to impose upon the court a duty to inquire further." Id., at 272.
the trial court had failed to investigate a possible conflict, but it also instructed the trial court to conduct a new revocation hearing if it found that an actual conflict existed and that the petitioners had not waived their right to conflict-free counsel. Wood v. Georgia, 450 U.S., at 273- 274-1104. The Court did not require the petitioners to prove on remand that the conflict adversely affected their counsel's performance.
It is axiomatic that "the assistance of counsel is among those 'constitutional rights so basic to a fair trial that their infraction can never be treated as harmless error.' " Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475, 489, 1181 (1978) (quoting Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 23, 827 (1967)). The right to counsel's undivided loyalty is a critical component of the right to assistance of counsel; when counsel is burdened by a conflict of interest, he deprives his client of his Sixth Amendment right as surely as if he failed to appear at trial. See Holloway v. Arkansas, supra, 435 U.S ., at 490 ("The mere physical presence of an attorney does not fulfill the Sixth Amendment guarantee when the advocate's conflicting obligations have effectively sealed his lips on crucial matters"). For this reason, a defendant who shows an actual conflict need not demonstrate that his counsel's divided loyalties prejudiced the outcome of his trial. Cuyler v. Sullivan, supra, 446 U.S., at 349-350-1719. The right to conflict-free counsel is simply too important and absolute "to allow courts to indulge in nice calculations as to the amount of prejudice arising from its denial." Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 76, 467 (1942); accord, Cuyler v. Sullivan, supra, 446 U.S., at 349. We should be no more willing to countenance nice calculations as to how a conflict adversely affected counsel's performance. "The conflict itself demonstrate[s] a denial of the 'right to have the effective assistance of counsel.' " Cuyler v. Sullivan, supra, at 349 ( quoting Glasser v. United States, supra, 315 U.S., at 76).
the record the prejudice resulting from an attorney's failure to undertake certain trial tasks, but even with a record of the sentencing hearing available it would be difficult to judge intelligently the impact of a conflict on the attorney's representation of a client. And to assess the impact of a conflict of interests on the attorney's options, tactics, and decisions in plea negotiations would be virtually impossible." Holloway v. Arkansas, supra, 435 U.S., at 490-491.
defendant validly waived his right to conflict-free counsel, then, a showing of actual conflict alone necessitates a new trial.
[Footnote *] Of course, if Bonin had knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to conflict-free counsel he would have no grounds for appeal on this score. Cf. Wheat v. United States, 486 U.S. 153, 166-167, 1700-1701, and n. 1 (1988) (MARSHALL, J., dissenting). Absent such a waiver, however, the trial court had a duty to inquire into possible conflicts and, upon finding an actual conflict, to deny the motion to substitute Charvet.

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