Court Opinion

ID: 9714666
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:42:37.243231+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:27.588802
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE CRAVEN dissenting: I must respectfully disagree with the conclusion of my colleagues. As I understand the cases in this jurisdiction and the cases from the Federal courts, it is well established that the right to effective assistance of counsel is fundamental and entitles the person represented to the undivided loyalty of counsel. When facts are shown to establish that a defendant did not have the undivided loyalty of counsel and that counsel, whether retained or appointed, represented the defendant and at the same time had undertaken potential conflicting responsibilities, that fact without the necessity of a showing of actual prejudice constitutes a denial of the effective assistance of counsel and requires a new proceeding. In People v. Stoval, 40 ILl.2d 109, 239 N.E.2d 441, Mr. Justice Ward, speaking for a majority of the court, specifically held that the existence of a possible conflict of interest placed too great a burden on counsel, however conscientious, and exposes counsel unnecessarily to later charges that his representation was not completely faithful. In a case involving such conflict, the court held that there was no necessity for the defendants to show actual prejudice. As the majority opinion notes, the Illinois Supreme Court relied upon Glosser and Goodson. The dissenting opinion by Justice House serves to emphasize the clear holding of the majority that Illinois had a per se rule. In People v. Meyers, 46 Ill.2d 149, 263 N.E.2d 81, Mr. Chief Justice Underwood, spealdng for a unanimous court, reiterated the holding in Stoval and held that where appointed counsel conceivably stood to gain a contingent fee which would presumably increase with the length of the defendant’s sentence, representation by that counsel of the defendant was such a conflict as to require the conviction to be vacated without a showing of prejudice. This court in People v. Richardson, 7 Ill.App.3d 367, 287 N.E.2d 517, following Meyers, held exactly the same thing and concluded that there need be no showing of prejudice, intentional fraud or misrepresentation, but the mere existence of a conflict was sufficient to set aside a conviction. In Richardson, the conflict was that counsel had undertaken to represent claimants in a dramshop suit. In the majority opinion there is a clear acknowledgment of the Illinois per se rule when the conflict arises from a commitment to others. The majority would distinguish this case from the line of cited cases by asserting that here the commitment was not to others but was to the lawyer himself. I am unable to make, such a distinction. Where, as here, the lawyer has a contract by the terms of which he gets a percentage of the royalties from publication, I believe it is more of a conflict than a mere undertaking to represent a third party in a dramshop action with a possible contingent fee. The fact that there were two lawyers would seem to make no difference. The conflict was there and by reason of that conflict the defendant was denied the effective assistance of counsel. See Ray v. Rose,-F.2d-(6th Cir. 1974), cert, denied, 42 L.W. 3663.