Opinion ID: 2620495
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Conflict-of-Interest for Standby Counsel

Text: Mr. Jackson also contends that Ms. Sanchez had a conflict of interest because she was a New Mexico assistant public defender, an office that Mr. Jackson had previously sued. See Jackson v. N.M. Pub. Defender’s Office, 361 F. App’x 958, 961 (10th Cir. 2010) (affirming the dismissal of Mr. Jackson’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit against unnamed public defenders); see also Jackson v. Brummett, 311 F. App’x 114, 116 (10th Cir. 2009) (same). While these suits reflect Mr. Jackson’s general dissatisfaction with the public defender’s office, we are not persuaded that these suits against unnamed public defenders, which were promptly dismissed as frivolous, created a conflict of interest for Ms. Sanchez as standby counsel in violation of Mr. Jackson’s Sixth Amendment rights. See Ausler v. United States, 545 F.3d 1101, 1104 (8th Cir. 2008) (concluding that no conflict 4 with standby counsel existed when the defendant brought a frivolous, “purely imaginary” suit against his counsel (internal quotation marks omitted)).