Opinion ID: 2546413
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Trial Court's Failure to Intervene to Ensure Defendant Was Represented by Conflict-free Counsel

Text: Defendant next contends the trial court failed in its duty to conduct an independent inquiry into the alleged conflict of interest created by defendant's threat of violence. He contends the trial court's duty to inquire was all the more important because he had been excluded from the hearings in which defense counsel and the trial court discussed the issue. Although a trial court has the duty to inquire when it knows or reasonably should know a conflict of interest exists between client and lawyer ( People v. Seaton (2001) 26 Cal.4th 598, 642, 110 Cal.Rptr.2d 441, 28 P.3d 175), the court fulfilled this obligation by holding the hearings on July 22, August 20, and September 16, 1992. Our examination of the trial record confirms the trial court conducted a meaningful inquiry into the issue. We thus reject defendant's claim that the court violated his rights under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the federal Constitution, as well as his claim that the court violated his rights under parallel provisions of the California Constitution.