Opinion ID: 1562759
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: appellate counsel conflict of interest

Text: Appellant's next claim is the only claim that the PCRA court found required an evidentiary hearing to elicit and verify any necessary facts. In his PCRA petition, appellant claimed that appellate counsel labored under a conflict of interest because his office, the Butler County Public Defender's Office, concurrently represented two Commonwealth witnesses who testified at appellant's trial, Ferry and White, in their individual criminal matters. However, at the PCRA hearing, the court heard the testimony of White's former public defender, John Morgan, Esquire, who testified that his representation of White ceased prior to appellant's trial. Ferry's former attorney, Richard Goldinger, Esquire, also testified and stated that his representation of Ferry concluded before appellant murdered Jeanine Revak. In its July 16, 2004 memorandum opinion and order, the PCRA court concluded that there was no conflict of interest involving the Public Defender's representation of Ferry and White. The court found that the Public Defender's representation of Ferry and White had concluded prior to appellant's trial and that appellant failed to demonstrate prejudice stemming from appellate counsel's appointment following appellant's trial. The court also found that Goldinger did not recall that Ferry became a cooperating witness against appellant. Further, the PCRA court concluded that appellant failed to establish that any prejudice occurred. Presently, appellant claims that the PCRA court erred when finding this claim to be meritless. Appellant states that although Goldinger withdrew as Ferry's counsel in December 1985, Goldinger was present as Ferry's attorney when Ferry gave statements to the police concerning appellant's jailhouse admissions. Appellant argues that a non-conflicted attorney would have aggressively pursued the possibility of an undisclosed deal between Ferry and the Commonwealth, whereas appellate counsel here merely asked Goldinger a few open-ended questions and let the matter drop. Appellant also maintains that Goldinger, as the head of the Public Defender's Office, experienced a conflict of interest based on his responsibilities to both appellant and Ferry. The Commonwealth responds that, if appellate counsel learned of undisclosed deals between the Commonwealth and White and Ferry, he would have ceased his representation of appellant. The Commonwealth asserts that appellant's argument that appellate counsel must have labored under a conflict of interest because he failed to challenge the alleged, but unproved, deals is meritless. It is far more plausible, maintains the Commonwealth, that appellate counsel did not possess any evidence of such mythical deals because they did not exist. The Commonwealth also contends that appellant cannot prove prejudice because he did not prove the existence of any undisclosed deals. Moreover, continues the Commonwealth, appellate counsel was not appointed to represent appellant until after the trial was completed and after Ferry and White had testified. An attorney owes his client a duty of loyalty, including a duty to avoid conflicts of interest. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The attorney's duty of loyalty is the obligation of counsel to avoid actual conflicts of interest that would adversely affect his ability to perform on behalf of his client. Commonwealth v. Washington, 583 Pa. 566, 880 A.2d 536, 543 (2005). To establish a breach of that duty, the client must show the existence of an actual conflict of interest that adversely affected the outcome of the case. Id. An actual conflict of interest is evidenced whenever during the course of representation, the interests of appellantand the interests of another client towards whom counsel bears obligations diverge with respect to a material factual or legal issue or to a course of action. In Interest of Saladin, 359 Pa.Super. 326, 518 A.2d 1258, 1261 (1986) (discussing Commonwealth v. Breaker, 456 Pa. 341, 318 A.2d 354, 356 (1974)). Appellant has failed to establish that the alleged deals upon which he premises his conflict claim existed in the first place. In fact, neither Ferry nor White testified to the existence of any agreement with the Commonwealth and the record reflects that there were no agreements. Additionally, because the Public Defender's Office no longer represented Ferry and White, and appellant's trial had concluded when appellate counsel began his representation of appellant, no actual conflict of interest existed. Furthermore, the PCRA court found that Attorney Goldinger could not recall if he represented Ferry when Ferry made statements to the police against appellant. Thus, appellant failed to establish an actual conflict of interest and, therefore, this claim lacks arguable merit. Nor has appellant remotely shown how the alleged conflict prejudiced him. And, finally, he has not shown that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise any conflict claim. [38]