Illinois v. Washington
| Decision Date | 13 November 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-1971,83-1971 |
| Citation | 105 S.Ct. 442,469 U.S. 1022,83 L.Ed.2d 367 |
| Parties | ILLINOIS v. Charles WASHINGTON |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
See 469 U.S. 1181, 105 S.Ct. 941.
On petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of Illinois.
The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.
In Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980), this Court held that in order to establish a Sixth Amendment violation, a defendant challenging his attorney's representation of multiple clients must establish that the attorney's performance was affected by an actual conflict of interest, not merely a potential one. In the present case, the Illinois Supreme Court held that Cuyler 's actual-conflict-of-interest standard was limited to multiple-representation situations. 101 Ill.2d 104, 461 N.E.2d 393 (1984). Because that holding is contrary to the results reached by at least six other courts, I dissent from the denial of certiorari.
Page 1022-Continued.
On May 7, 1979, Nathan Bottley was murdered in Chicago. Chicago police suspected Charles Washington, a resident of Chicago Heights, and made inquiries to the Chicago Heights police. As a result of these inquiries, Chicago Heights police officers reinterviewed witnesses to a 1977 murder in Chicago Heights, in which Washington had been a suspect, and arrested Washington for that crime. While Washington was in custody, he was also charged by Chicago police for the Bottley murder.
After being indicted for the Bottley murder, Washington filed pretrial motions to quash arrest and suppress identification, contending that his arrest in Chicago Heights had been without probable cause. Washington's attorney at this hearing also served as the city attorney for Chicago Heights, a fact that the State's attorney brought to the attention of the trial court. The defense attorney responded that he had consulted with Washington about the possible conflict of interest inherent in this situation, but that he "anticipated no Chicago Heights Police Officers to be called" in connection with the Chicago murder. The court questioned Washington and ascertained that he had no objection to being represented by his defense counsel.
Contrary to defense counsel's expectation, the State called a Chicago Heights police officer to establish that there was probable cause for the defendant's arrest in Chicago Heights on the 1977 murder charge. Defense counsel cross-examined the officer and then called another Chicago Heights officer as a rebuttal witness. The trial court denied Washington's motion to quash arrest, basing its holding primarily on the testimony of these two officers.
On appeal, Washington argued that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because of his attorney's conflicting interests. The Illinois Appellate Court reversed the conviction on this ground, and the Illinois Supreme Court agreed. The Illinois Supreme Court adhered to its longstanding view that as a matter of federal constitutional law even a potential conflict of interest required reversal, rejecting the State's contention that Cuyler v. Sullivan required Washington to show that his attorney's performance had been adversely affected by an actual conflict of interest. The State's argument, the court held, overlooked the fact that Cuyler involved multiple representation of defendants. The court focused on Cuyler § observation that "a possible conflict inheres in almost every instance of multiple representation," so that a presumption that even potential conflict resulted in ineffective assistance "would preclude multiple representation even in cases where '[a] common defense . . . gives strength against a common attack.' " 446 U.S., at 348, 100 S.Ct., at 1718, quoting Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 92, 62 S.Ct. 457, 475, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting).
Unlike the Illinois Supreme Court, numerous federal courts have failed to discern in Cuyler any limitation to cases involving multiple representation of defendants. See Westbrook v. Zant, 704 F.2d...
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