Opinion ID: 786594
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lapse in Representation

Text: 36 Once an actual conflict is established, a defendant need not prove prejudice, but simply that a lapse in representation resulted from the conflict. United States v. Malpiedi, 62 F.3d 465, 469 (2d Cir.1995) (internal quotation marks omitted); see Armienti v. United States, 313 F.3d 807, 811 (2d Cir.2002). A defendant can prove a lapse in representation by demonstrating that some plausible alternative defense strategy or tactic might have been pursued, and that the alternative defense was inherently in conflict with or not undertaken due to the attorney's other loyalties or interests. United States v. Levy, 25 F.3d 146, 157 (2d Cir.1994) (internal quotation marks omitted). As we stated in Malpiedi: 37 The test is a strict one because a defendant has a right to an attorney who can make strategic and tactical choices free from any conflict of interest. An attorney who is prevented from pursuing a strategy or tactic because of the canons of ethics is hardly an objective judge of whether that strategy or tactic is sound trial practice. Counsel's inability to make such a conflict-free decision is itself a lapse in representation. 38 62 F.3d at 469 (internal quotation marks omitted). 39 Williams has demonstrated the requisite adversity in his attorney's performance by showing that his conflicted counsel failed to make any significant effort to negotiate a plea or cooperation agreement on his behalf. Williams claims that Leonardo never discussed the possibility of a plea bargain with him. He further claims that his conflicted counsel actively discouraged him from cooperating, even though many of Williams' co-defendants made cooperation agreements in exchange for substantially reduced sentences. While Williams obviously has an incentive to take this position, even if we do not accept his representations at face value, the government offers but one instance of a very cursory plea discussion with Leonardo and that did not occur until December 22, 2000. This means that the government offers no evidence of any plea discussion or any attempt by Leonardo to engage in a plea discussion until approximately two years after Williams' arrest and one week before Leonardo's arrest. Given that the government knew on December 22, 2000 that Leonardo was about to be arrested, we cannot take seriously any plea discussion the government had with Leonardo at that time, as any agreement could surely have been challenged had it been consummated. Thus, we are left with no evidence that Williams' conflicted counsel ever engaged in a legitimate effort to seek a plea bargain on Williams' behalf. Moreover, it is clear that no plea discussion is alleged to have occurred during the critical months after Williams' arrest when Williams asserts that he had valuable information that he could have offered the government concerning the location of Alvin Jackson, a co-defendant who had not yet been apprehended by law enforcement. 40 While seeking to make an agreement with the prosecution was surely a plausible alternative defense strategy or tactic, Levy, 25 F.3d at 157 (internal quotation marks omitted), Williams has demonstrated that Leonardo's efforts at plea bargaining were negligible. Williams may have had knowledge of value to the government, and his attorney should have made some effort to explore a cooperation agreement before Williams' information grew stale. Given that Leonardo made no reasonable effort to resolve Williams' case without going to trial and given the strong incentive Leonardo had in preventing a cooperation agreement with Williams, it is clear that Williams' defense was inherently in conflict with Leonardo's other loyalties or interests. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Williams has, therefore, demonstrated the requisite lapse in his representation. 41 The government argues that Williams has not demonstrated the requisite lapse in representation because it maintains that it never had and never would have offered Williams a plea agreement involving a sentence short of life imprisonment. It claims to have pursued such a hardline because: (1) Williams was one of the largest cocaine suppliers in the Buffalo area; (2) it had a very strong case against Williams; and (3) Williams engaged in additional uncharged crimes. 42 The government's argument fails for two reasons. First, Williams has demonstrated the requisite lapse in representation simply by showing that his attorney failed to make any significant effort at plea bargaining when circumstances dictated that he should have. The government's ultimate response to plea efforts that were not attempted is irrelevant. To show a lapse in representation, defendants need not show that the alternative strategy or tactic not adopted by a conflicted counsel was reasonable, that the lapse in representation affected the outcome of the trial, or even that, but for the conflict, counsel's conduct of the trial would have been different. Malpiedi, 62 F.3d at 469. 43 Second, in any event, we cannot take the government's hardline bargaining position at face value. The government claims that it would not have consented to any sentence short of life imprisonment. Yet, in circumstances like this, it is the job of defense counsel to convince, or at least attempt to convince the government, why that position is unreasonable and not in the government's best interests. In addition, if Williams had a zealous advocate, the government would have had more incentive to negotiate a plea agreement and might not have taken such a strong stance against plea bargaining in the first place. Furthermore, even if we accepted the government's representation that it would not have consented to a sentence short of life imprisonment, it is also true that the government might have consented to a plea that involved just one count of conviction leading to life imprisonment, rather than the eight counts for which Williams ultimately was convicted and sentenced. Similarly, even if the government maintained its tough stance, the District Court might not have accepted the government's recommendation as to sentencing were Williams to have pled guilty. Thus, Williams has shown that his representation suffered from an actual conflict and that his attorney's performance demonstrated a lapse in representation that was adverse to Williams' interests. 44