Case Name: John M. Phillips v. Warden, State Prison
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Connecticut
Decision Date: 1990-10-04
Citations: 216 Conn. 822
Docket Number: 
Parties: John M. Phillips v. Warden, State Prison
Judges: 
Reporter: Connecticut Reports
Volume: 216
Pages: 822–822

Head Matter:
John M. Phillips v. Warden, State Prison
Timothy H. Everett and Giovanna M. Tiberii, certified legal intern, in support of the petition.
James A. Kitten, assistant state’s attorney, in opposition.
Decided October 4, 1990

Opinion:
The petitioner John M. Phillips' petition for certification for appeal from the Appellate Court, 23 Conn. App. 63, is granted, limited to the following issues:
"1. Was the petitioner's constitutional right to the undivided loyalty of counsel violated where his attorney, Bernard L. Avcollie, still practicing law after his own conviction in a highly publicized case in the same courthouse, was unable to pursue certain courses of action, such as probing individual voir dire to protect his client against juror bias, because Avcollie put his own interest in staying on the case ahead of his professional judgment that most members of the jury panel knew of his conviction and his 'nagging feeling that [his] reputation was going to hurt this man [the petitioner]?'
"2. Was the trial court's violation of its constitutional duty to inquire into defense counsel's possible conflict of interest harmless beyond a reasonable doubt in light of the petitioner's failure to prove an actual conflict of interest by a preponderance of the evidence?"