Opinion ID: 780064
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Effective Assistance of Counsel and Conflicts of Interest

Text: 84 A Supreme Court majority has established a clear framework for evaluating the effectiveness of counsel where one lawyer represents more than one defendant in a criminal case. See Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. at 489-91, 98 S.Ct. 1173; Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. at 348, 100 S.Ct. 1708; see also Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052; Mickens v. Taylor, 122 S.Ct. at 1240-46; see also Majority Op. at 813-15 for thorough summary of facts and precise holdings of these cases. My colleagues here apply that Supreme Court precedent quite literally to the unique facts before us, concluding that the only clear and relevant Supreme Court law establishes that conflicts of interest arising out of joint representation, the precise conflict at issue in Cuyler, trigger Cuyler -type analysis and relief. 85 Obviously, Cuyler is clearly established and relevant Supreme Court law. But it is not the totality of it. The reality is that conflicts come in all shapes and sizes, only one of which is joint representation. In my view, and critical to my analysis of the present case, the Supreme Court's decision in Holloway clearly established the ultimate, functionally governing, legal rationale for federal habeas review for any convicted defendant represented in state court by conflicted counsel, not merely joint representation. Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. at 489-90, 98 S.Ct. 1173. As the Court explained there, [j]oint representation of conflicting interests is suspect because of what it tends to prevent the attorney from doing.... [T]he evil is in what the advocate finds himself compelled to refrain from doing, not only at trial, but also as to possible pretrial plea negotiations and in the sentencing process. Id. (Burger, C.J.); see also Mickens, 122 S.Ct. at 1246 (Kennedy, J., concurring) (in a related context, disparaging a wooden rule and emphasizing the importance of an evidentiary hearing and district court findings on the effect of the conflict on the representation). 86 The foregoing considered, I believe that, even though Balgooyen's conflict is not on all fours with the joint representation at issue in Cuyler, it is even more suspect. It had a stronger tendency to influence, if not compel, him to refrain from actions potentially advantageous to his client that an effective counsel would take. That tendency should have aroused the District Court's serious suspicions and prompted it to examine the entire state court record with heightened scrutiny.