Court Opinion

ID: 9705344
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:03:22.470805+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:10.164292
License: Public Domain

FARRELL, Associate Judge:
After a bench trial, appellant Malede was found guilty of stalking, two counts of felony threats, assault with intent to kill while armed, and related weapons offenses. He contends that the trial judge, sitting as factfinder, erroneously rejected his defense of insanity1 and that the judge later erred in denying without a hearing his motion under D.C.Code § 23-110 alleging a “conflict of interest” and ineffective assistance on the part of his trial attorney. We affirm.
I.
Malede did not dispute that he shot and seriously wounded Tigest Bekele, a woman with whom he had had a prior personal relationship, in Southwest Washington on April 23, 1994. His defense at trial was insanity, which the law required him to prove by a preponderance of the evidence. See D.C.Code § 24 — 301(j) (1996); Bethea v. United States, 365 A.2d 64, 83 n. 38 (D.C.1976). He attempted to do so principally through the testimony of Dr. Robert K. Madsen, an expert in psychology and forensic psychology. The trial judge, however, found that neither that testimony nor any other evidence established preponderantly that on April 23, 1994, Malede shot Ms. Bekele as a result of a mental disease or defect which caused him to lack substantial capacity either to recognize the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. See Wilkes v. United States, 631 A.2d 880, 882 n. 4 (D.C.1993); Bethea, 365 A.2d at 79. Since the judge’s subsidiary findings on the issue are well supported by the record, we may not disturb them. D.C.Code § 17-305(a) (1997). Even conceding that Malede suffered from a mental disease or defect at the time of the acts charged (an issue on which the judge found “some doubt”), the trial judge had a solid factual basis on which to conclude that Malede had failed to establish a causal connection between that condition and the criminal acts.2
II.
Malede’s more substantial contention is that by the time of trial his court — appointed attorney, Thomas Farquhar, had become so hostile to him — even expressing *270that hostility on the record-as to create an actual “conflict of interest” between the two that deprived Malede of his right to the effective assistance of counsel. Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980); see Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 692, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).
The relationship that developed before trial between Malede and Farquhar, his third appointed counsel, is troublesome because it reached the point where Farqu-har, in a written motion to withdraw from the case, claimed that Malede had “falsely accus[ed him] of all kinds of misconduct” such that counsel “no longer feels he can effectively represent this malevolent little man” (emphasis added). Farquhar was responding to written assertions Malede had made to the trial judge and Bar Counsel that Farquhar asked him for $5,000 to retain a defense psychiatrist, which Ma-lede saw as an effort by his lawyer to “pad[ ] his pocket,” and that Farquhar verbally abused him by “cursing [him] and calling [him] stupid.”3 Mutual hostility of that apparent intensity naturally requires close examination of whether Farquhar remained capable of representing Malede with undivided loyalty.
In denying Malede’s post-conviction motion, the trial judge pointed out that, notwithstanding the ill-feelings between client and attorney, Malede had twice stated in open court that he wanted Farquhar to continue to represent him. Specifically, on June 23, 1995, Malede (after consulting with yet another appointed attorney)4 declared that he wanted Farquhar to remain as his attorney provided they communicated through a language interpreter. Although Malede wrote letters to the court during the summer again requesting that Farquhar withdraw because of “the enmity that has developed between us,” at a status hearing on September 27, 1995, when asked by the judge whether, “as of today, [you are] satisfied with Mr. Farquhar’s work as your lawyer,” he answered “yes.” He made no complaint during trial about his relationship with Farquhar. Malede nevertheless argues on appeal that this record is too sparse to permit a conclusion that he “waived” any conflict of interest, see Douglas v. United States, 488 A.2d 121, 138 (D.C.1985), and the government does not appear to argue the contrary. Given the terseness of the exchange between the judge and Malede at the September 27 hearing, and the government’s disinclination to press the point, we agree that any conflict was not waived.5 We therefore must consider whether in fact the hostility between Malede and Farquhar was of such a nature or magnitude as to create an “actual conflict of interest” affecting the representation. Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. at 350, 100 S.Ct. 1708.
Under Cuyler, a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is shown “if the defendant demonstrates that counsel ‘actively represented conflicting interests’ and that ‘an actual conflict of interest adversely affected his lawyer’s performance.’ ” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 692, 104 S.Ct. 2052 (quoting Cuyler, 446 U.S. at 350, 100 S.Ct. 1708). Such a conflict is typically shown when the defense attorney “is ‘required to make choices advancing [another client’s] interest to the detriment of his [current] client’s interest.’ ” Veney *271v. United States, 738 A.2d 1185, 1192 (D.C.1999) (citations omitted; bracketed language in original).6 Malede’s claim of conflict does not fit the multiple-client mold. Instead, the parallel he claims is with cases such as Douglas, in which a conflict of interest was found where the defendant complained of his lawyer’s performance to Bar Counsel and the lawyer thereby acquired a personal, potentially conflicting interest in how the defense would be conducted. 488 A.2d at 136-37. Malede too lodged a complaint against Farquhar with Bar Counsel. Most courts, however, have understandably refused to find a conflict of interest any time a defendant takes his grievance about counsel’s performance to the disciplinary authority, for such a rule “would invite criminal defendants anxious to rid themselves of unwanted lawyers to queue up at the doors of bar disciplinary committees on the eve of trial.” United States v. Burns, 990 F.2d 1426, 1438 (4th Cir.1993); see also State v. Johnson, 227 Ill.App.3d 800, 169 Ill.Dec. 858, 592 N.E.2d 345, 355 (1992) (citing cases rejecting such a per se rule). For this reason, in Douglas we pointed to the fact that Bar Counsel had already begun an investigation into the complaint against counsel at the time the issue arose in court, giving the attorney ten days to respond to the grievances in writing. 488 A.2d at 128; see also id. at 136 (“[A]s soon as [attorney] Kane learned of Bar Counsel’s intention to pursue an investigation of appellant’s complaint, he acquired a personal interest in the way he conducted appellant’s defense.”). The resulting circumstances, we found, “were not conducive to the cooperative spirit and sin-glemindedness of purpose that ordinarily should underlie a defendant/attorney relationship.” Id. at 137.
Bar Counsel had not begun an inquiry into Malede’s complaint at the time of trial, and we decline to hold that the bare filing of the disciplinary complaint created a conflict of interest necessitating Farquhar’s discharge from the case.7 Malede contends, however, that the hostility and contempt Farquhar expressed towards him in moving to withdraw guaranteed that he would be disloyal or at least conflicted in his continuing representation of Malede. Farquhar’s language was certainly intemperate; and we can agree that it ill-befits a member of the Bar to denounce his client in a court document as a “malevolent little man,” no matter what the perceived provocation. But an actual conflict of interest under Cuyler is not shown merely by an attorney’s vehemence in disputing a chent’s complaint of wrongdoing. If it were, then a good many claims of defective representation against which an attorney defends before trial would demand near-automatic replacement of counsel despite our decisions holding that the proper remedy in such circumstances is inquiry by the court into the adequacy of counsel’s pretrial preparation, and any necessary remediation. See Monroe v. United States, 389 A.2d 811 (D.C.1978); Farrell v. United States, 391 A.2d 755 (D.C.1978). Nor is an actual conflict created simply by the attorney’s request to be relieved of the representation because he takes the accusations personally. The trial court still must have discretion to decide whether counsel, appointed under the Criminal Justice Act, can continue to provide the effective assistance which the Constitution requires.
We therefore are unpersuaded by Malede’s argument that Farquhar’s expressed hostility to him in moving to withdraw was enough to create an actual con*272flict of interest. Even if it did, moreover, a conflict alone is not enough to permit reversal of a conviction on appeal. In addition, the conflict must be shown to have adversely affected the trial attorney’s performance. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 692, 104 S.Ct. 2052. Ordinarily this means that there must be some indication that “the attorney’s and the defendant’s interests ‘diverge[d] with respect to a material factual or legal issue or to a course of action.’ ” Veney, 738 A.2d at 1192-93 (quoting Winkler v. Keane, 7 F.3d 304, 307 (2d Cir.1993)) (in turn quoting Cuyler, 446 U.S. at 356 n. 3, 100 S.Ct. 1708 (Marshall, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part)). See also United States v. Stantini 85 F.3d 9, 16 (2d Cir.1996) (To prove “lapse of representation” under Cuyler, defendant “must 'demonstrate that some plausible alternative defense strategy or tactic might have been pursued’ but was not and that ‘the alternative defense was inherently in conflict with or not undertaken due to the attorney’s other loyalties or interests.’ ”) (quoting Winkler, 7 F.3d at 309); United States v. Soldevila-Lopez, 17 F.3d 480, 486 (1st Cir.1994) (same); United States v. Gambino, 864 F.2d 1064, 1071 (3d Cir.1988) (same).8 As we stated in Derrington v. United States, 681 A.2d 1125 (D.C.1996), “the appellant must be able to ‘point to specific instances in the record to suggest an actual conflict or impairment of [his or her] interests.’ ” Id. at 1133 (citation omitted).
Malede alleged no such divergency of interests in his § 23-110 motion; his only contention was that Farquhar’s pursuit of the insanity defense was “intolerably deficient.” The trial judge found this assertion to be conclusory and unsubstantiated, so as to obviate the need for an evidentiary hearing. We agree. Malede complained, for example, of Farquhar’s failure to make additional friends and associates of the defendant available to experts who evaluated his mental state, but Malede made no proffer by affidavit or otherwise of how those persons would have supported the insanity defense. See Fields v. United States, 698 A.2d 485, 489 (D.C.1997).9 His additional claim that counsel had “failed to fairly or meaningfully consult with or advise him” was likewise conclusory; he did not allege that Farquhar pursued a defense strategy different from the one Malede wanted, or that Malede had information relevant to the defense that Farquhar had failed to obtain from him. In his brief on appeal, Malede likewise does not claim that he and Farquhar disagreed that insanity was the only viable defense, nor that Farquhar failed to pursue the defense vigorously.
Malede focuses instead upon Farquhar’s statement in the motion to withdraw that Malede had “falsely aceus[ed him] of all kinds of misconduct.” This assertion, Malede argues, was tantamount to telling the judge who then sat as trier of *273fact not to believe Malede in evaluating his defense of insanity.10 We agree that if a defense lawyer effectively discredits his client before the factfinder on the defense presented, it is inconsequential that no “plausible alternative defense strategy” was available for the lawyer to pursue. Stantini, 85 F.3d at 13. The mischief lies in what counsel did, not in what else he might have done. Such a case was Butler v. United States, 414 A.2d 844 (D.C.1980) (en banc), in which an attorney justifying himself before trial against claims of inadequate preparation told the judge that this was “an open and shut case” and that his client’s real complaint was that counsel would not put him on the stand and sponsor perjury without telling the court (the defendant wanted to deny that he had the gun in question despite having told counsel the contrary). Id. at 845. After the case went to trial before the same judge as factfinder, we reversed, stating (among other things) that “[i]t is difficult to imagine how the neutrality of a judge could remain free from compromise when [he] had been told by defense counsel that the government’s case can be proved ... and that the defendant intends to commit perjury.” Id. at 852.
But Farquhar’s statements are not comparable to those in Butler. Still early in the representation, he denied as “false” accusations Malede had made on matters — i.e., whether Farquhar had been “intent on padding his pocketfs]” at Malede’s expense or had “curs[ed him] and callfed him] stupid” — that were obviously collateral to any defense he and Malede might present. The argument that this denial compromised Malede’s insanity defense at trial seven months later is fanciful. In the interim, two psychiatric examinations on responsibility were conducted, one by each party, and testimony by those experts was the centerpiece of the evidence at trial which the judge carefully analyzed and relied on in reaching his decision. Farqu-har’s response to Malede’s complaints, while disparaging of his client, had no identifiable effect on the defense strategy he then followed, the skill or vigor with which he pursued it, or the chances of that defense prevailing. Malede’s credibility was indeed an issue at trial, as he argues, but only in the sense that both psychiatrists — defense as well as government— assayed his claim that mental illness caused him to do the shooting and found it inconsistent with the objective facts; the judge essentially had no evidentiary basis on which to reach a different conclusion.11
All told, then, any arguable conflict Far-quhar experienced in his loyalty to Malede did not adversely affect his performance. Cuyler, supra.
We reject, lastly, Malede’s argument that Judge Weisberg should have recused himself from trial after learning Farquhar’s negative opinion of his client’s character for truth-telling. (We reject as well the argument that an evidentiary hearing was needed to explore that issue.) There is no support whatever for an inference that the judge was influenced in evaluating the evidence by his knowledge of the recriminations between lawyer and client before trial. As explained, nothing Farquhar told the judge reflected any opinion of Malede’s defense, and there is no suggestion in the record that the judge had “attempted to evaluate the defense or the government’s case ... prior to hearing the ... witnesses” at trial. Banks v. United States, 516 A.2d 524, 529 (D.C.1986).

Affirmed.

. The government asserts that Malede raised insanity at trial only with respect to three of the charges against him, those arising from his shooting of the victim on April 23, 1994. Our disposition of the issue makes it unnecessary to decide whether the insanity defense— and hence Malede’s claim on appeal — relates to all or only part of his convictions.

. Even Dr. Madsen did not conclude that Malede could not appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions on April 23, 1994, or that he was unable to control his conduct and conform it to the law on that occasion. The testimony of the government’s expert, Dr. David Shapiro, was to the same effect.

. Malede also complained that Farquhar, contrary to his promise, had not helped Malede regain custody of his automobile (which the police had seized) and had proposed selling the car to a dealer friend of Farquhar's for $4,000 when "newspaper prices” valued the car at $7,000.

. The judge appointed this attorney, Steven Jackson, to consult with Malede after a doctor who examined Malede on the issue of competency suggested that his difficulties with counsel might stem from language and cultural barriers (Malede is an immigrant from Ethiopia). Jackson had previously represented persons of the same cultural background.

.Further questioning of Malede at some point about the basis of his complaints against Farquhar might have mooted the issues we now face.

. Cf. also Thomas v. United States, 685 A.2d 745 (D.C.1996) (counsel’s loyalty may have been adversely affected by her personal relationship to a police officer).

. We distinguish this situation from the one in Smith v. Lockhart, 923 F.2d 1314, 1321 (8th Cir.1991), where the fact of an impending “federal lawsuit pitting the defendant against his attorney” created an actual conflict of interest requiring substitution of appointed counsel.

. Illustrative is United States v. Shorter, 54 F.3d 1248, 1253 (7th Cir.1995), in which the defendant asserted that counsel, forced to continue a representation he had sought to withdraw from before sentencing because of allegations by the defendant, failed to argue for a departure from the Sentencing Guideline.

. Malede did not actually name any such persons, instead referring to medical reports in which experts had mentioned particular persons they had been unable to interview. But, although Dr. Madsen (for instance) had been unable to interview Abera Beyene, the person who had gone with Malede to the police on the day of the offense, he noted that another physician, Dr. Bernthal, had interviewed Bey-ene together with counsel, and Dr. Madsen had taken their comments into account in formulating his opinion. Further, Dr. Mad-sen ultimately succeeded in interviewing Ma-lede’s employment supérvisor, something he had been unable to do initially.
Dr. Bernthal, who made a court-ordered evaluation of Malede but did not testify, pointed out in her report that she had been "unable to locate several other individuals who observed [appellant] around the time of the alleged offense,” and that Farquhar had not assisted her in locating them. Again, however, Malede did not identify any such individuals to the court or proffer how they might have supported his insanity defense.

. Malede does not contend that Farquhar induced him to elect a bench trial before the judge which he otherwise would not have chosen. The trial judge painstakingly established that Malede’s waiver of a jury trial was knowing and voluntary.

. No argument is made that Farquhar did not conscientiously pursue a plea disposition with the government, something Malede had asked him to do.