Opinion ID: 2066555
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Trial Counsel's Failure to Investigate Conflict of Interest

Text: Appellant next claims that direct appeal counsel was ineffective for failing to raise trial counsel's ineffectiveness for failing to disclose to appellant an actual conflict of interest that compromised counsel's ability to zealously represent appellant. Appellant's Brief at 44. Appellant alleges that while trial counsel, Louis Savino, Esquire, represented him in the instant case, Attorney Savino was also representing Aaron Montague (a.k.a. Little Man), whose car victim Andre Graves allegedly stole shortly before he was murdered, at least according to a police statement provided by Graves' friend, Charles Brown. According to appellant, Brown's statement put [Savino] on notice that Little Man ... had a clear motive for murdering Mr. Graves. Id. at 45. Appellant further alleges that, due to this supposed actual conflict of interest, Savino never introduced evidence at appellant's trial that Graves stole Montague's car, contending that such evidence would have established a motive by another person for Graves' murder. In addition, appellant argues that [t]he PCRA court's ruling on this issue should be reversed because it applied the wrong standard in assessing trial counsel's conflict. Id. at 44. In response, the Commonwealth contends that the purported conflict of interest on the part of trial counsel is illusory. Conceding that Attorney Savino represented Montague in two unrelated matters, the Commonwealth argues that neither matter could have affected Savino's performance at appellant's trial because the first matter concerned a drug possession conviction and ended nine months before appellant's trial, while the second matter was an aggravated assault case that arose after appellant's trial. Additionally, the Commonwealth emphasizes that, at appellant's trial, Savino attempted to cast suspicion on the Boys from the Bottom, the gang of which Montague was leader, and simply lacked sufficient evidence to single out Montague himself as the perpetrator. Even assuming Savino was ineffective, the Commonwealth argues, direct appeal counsel could not reasonably have been expected to determine the identity of Little Man, whom in a statement a single witness named as the owner of the car Graves allegedly stolelet alone investigate a potential connection between Little Man and Savinobecause direct appeal counsel had no reason to believe that any such connection existed. In its opinion, the PCRA court noted that: (1) Attorney Savino testified at the PCRA hearing that he had not viewed Montague as a suspect in Graves' murder; (2) Savino's representation of Montague at Montague's sentencing hearing predated Savino's representation of appellant; (3) both defense counsel and the Commonwealth stipulated at the hearing that the name Aaron Montague is not mentioned anywhere in the trial discovery in appellant's case; and (4) Savino's representation of Montague and of appellant involved completely unrelated charges. Accordingly, the court found that Montague's and appellant's interests did not diverge with respect to a material fact or legal issue or to a course of action. PCRA Ct. Op. at 38. Finding no arguable merit in appellant's underlying claim of trial counsel ineffectiveness, the court concluded that direct appeal counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise the claim. An appellant cannot prevail on a preserved conflict of interest claim absent a showing of actual prejudice. Commonwealth v. Karenbauer, 552 Pa. 420, 715 A.2d 1086, 1094 (1998). Nevertheless, we presume prejudice when the appellant shows that trial counsel was burdened by an actualrather than mere potentialconflict of interest. Commonwealth v. (Thomas) Hawkins, 567 Pa. 310, 787 A.2d 292, 297 (2001). To show an actual conflict of interest, the appellant must demonstrate that: (1) counsel actively represented conflicting interests; and (2) those conflicting interests adversely affected his lawyer's performance. Id. at 297-98 (quoting Commonwealth v. Buehl, 510 Pa. 363, 508 A.2d 1167, 1175 (1986) (quoting Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 350, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980) and holding that [a]ppellant's defense was not prejudiced by the fact that, at a prior time, his counsel had represented a Commonwealth witness)). Clients' interests actually conflict when during the course of representation they diverge with respect to a material factual or legal issue or to a course of action. Commonwealth v. Padden, 783 A.2d 299, 310 (Pa.Super.2001); Commonwealth v. Toro, 432 Pa.Super. 383, 638 A.2d 991, 996 (1994); In Interest of Saladin, 359 Pa.Super. 326, 518 A.2d 1258, 1261 (1986). We first address appellant's assertion that the PCRA court applied the wrong standard in assessing the merits of the underlying claim. As appellant notes, to succeed on his claim that trial counsel was burdened with a conflict of interest, appellant must show that the interests of counsel's two clients actually conflicted. Appellant defines an actual conflict as occurring when the two clients' interests diverge with respect to a material factual or legal issues [sic] or to a course of action. Appellant's Brief at 44 (quoting Saladin, supra ). This is the same definition of an actual conflict that the PCRA court applied below. See PCRA Ct. Op. at 38 (taking same quotation from Toro, supra, that appears in Saladin ). Therefore, notwithstanding appellant's assertion that the PCRA court applied the wrong standard to his underlying conflict-of-interest claim, appellant can prevail only if the PCRA court's application of the definition of actual conflict is unsupported by the record sub judice. As the PCRA court noted, Attorney Savino's first representation of Montague occurred on July 7, 1992, prior to Graves' murder, and consisted of an appearance at a sentencing hearing in Philadelphia Municipal Court in connection with a drug offense. See N.T., 10/8/04, at 53, 102-03; PCRA Petition, Exhibit 4. Savino's representation of Montague in this matter ended on July 22, 1992, nine days after Graves' murder, when Scott DiClaudio, Esquire, another attorney from Savino's office, appeared on behalf of Montague at another sentencing hearing. See N.T., 10/8/04, at 47, 49. Savino next represented Montague in an unrelated matter at a hearing in Municipal Court on December 31, 1993, more than seven months after appellant's trial for Graves' murder. See id. at 103; PCRA Petition, Exhibit 4. Appellant does not allege that Savino represented Montague at any time between July 22, 1992 and appellant's trial. On July 19, 1992, three days before Attorney Savino's representation of Montague in the unrelated drug case ended, Charles Brown gave his police statement alleging that Graves stole a car owned by Little Man. See N.T., 10/8/04, at 35-36; PCRA Petition, Exhibit 1 at 3. As appellant notes, when Savino ultimately read Brown's statement, Savino knew that this Little Man could be the same Little Man whose real name was Aaron Montague, the same Aaron Montague on whose behalf Savino had appeared in court on July 7th. N.T., 10/8/04, at 36. Nevertheless, Savino could not have read Brown's statement before August 18, 1992, which is when he received the pre-trial discovery materials in appellant's case from the prosecution, see id. at 104-05, and appellant alleges no other basis upon which Savino should be charged with notice of the supposed potential conflict of interest. By August 18th, however, Savino was no longer representing Montague, Savino's involvement in that case having ended nearly one month earlier. Accordingly, the PCRA court did not err in determining that appellant had failed to show an actual conflict of interest and that, therefore, there was no basis upon which to presume that prejudice actually resulted to appellant from Savino's prior representation of Montague. Because appellant's underlying claim of trial counsel ineffectiveness lacks arguable merit, his claim that direct appeal counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the conflict-of-interest claim necessarily fails.