Lettley v. State

Decision Date15 February 2000
Docket NumberNo. 53,53
Citation358 Md. 26,746 A.2d 392
PartiesDonald LETTLEY v. STATE of Maryland.
CourtMaryland Court of Appeals

George E. Burns, Jr., Asst. Public Defender (Stephen E. Harris, Public Defender, on brief), Baltimore, for Appellant.

Diane E. Keller, Asst. Atty. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen. of Maryland, on brief), Baltimore, for Appellee.

Argued before BELL, C.J., and ELDRIDGE, RODOWSKY, RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL and HARRELL, JJ RAKER, Judge.

In this case, Appellant, Donald Lettley, challenges the trial court's denial of defense counsel's motion to withdraw from representation of Appellant based on a conflict of interest. Donald Lettley was convicted of attempted first degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence, and reckless endangerment. In this appeal, he challenges the adequacy of his trial counsel's representation, contending that his attorney labored under an actual conflict of interest requiring reversal of his convictions. The asserted conflict arose out of his counsel's dual representation of Appellant and another client, who was not charged in the crime at issue but who had allegedly confessed to the attorney that he had in fact committed the crime. The trial court denied counsel's request to withdraw and to permit Appellant to engage other counsel. For the reasons that follow, we shall hold that counsel's representation of Appellant while simultaneously representing the client who allegedly confessed to the crime with which Appellant was charged created a conflict of interest which denied Appellant effective assistance of counsel, requiring reversal of his convictions.

I.

On December 10, 1997, Timothy Smith was shot three times in a parking lot in Baltimore. He survived his injuries, and identified Appellant, Donald Lettley, in a photo array as the shooter. The Grand Jury for Baltimore City returned an indictment for attempted first degree murder and related offenses.

A privately retained attorney entered her appearance for Appellant on February 11, 1998. On August 17, 1998, at the motions hearing the day before trial, counsel advised the court that she had a conflict of interest and requested the court to strike her appearance. She told the court that an existing client, not a co-defendant of Lettley, whom she presently represented, had confessed to the Smith shooting, and that the client disclosed that information to her in confidence. Counsel advised the court that her ability to represent Lettley was compromised because of the conflict. The following colloquy occurred:

DEF. ATT'Y: Well, I'm not saying that I can't, that under no circumstances could I represent Donald Lettley, what I'm saying is that the conflict compromises my representation of him so that I don't feel that I can represent him to the fullest of my ability because in order to represent him fully I would basically have to roll over on another client using information that was told to me in confidence at a time when I represented that person.
COURT: Yeah, but I mean, this wouldn't have come up anyway. He's obviously a colleague, a friend of your client or he would've never told you, right?
DEF. ATT'Y: That's true.
COURT: And your client's got to know the question is, what's the significance of that, let me tell you something in confidence and you're not saying don't give me something in confidence because I'm representing him.
DEF. ATT'Y: Well, I had no idea what he was going to say.... He comes to me and says that he'd like to speak to me in confidence. He's a client and I say sure and—.... I had no idea what it was about until he told me. And provided that, you know, that if, God forbid, he is convicted, then that's clearly a basis for a post conviction against me.

In response to the court's questions, counsel told the court that the confessing client did not look like Appellant, although they had features in common. She noted that, but for the conflict, there were various things she could have done in Lettley's defense, but as a result of the conflict, she was unable to do so. As examples, she noted that she could have presented the information to the State's Attorney's Office and requested they investigate the other person; or she could have encouraged Lettley to go to the police and have the other person investigated. At trial, during cross-examination of the witnesses, she might present the witnesses with a photograph of the other person and ask them to identify that person as the shooter.

The court permitted Lettley to consult with independent counsel on the conflict issue. Independent counsel appeared before the court and represented that he had spoken with Appellant, and that in his opinion, trial counsel had a conflict of interest. Appellant advised the court that he wished to retain different counsel. The judge denied the request for a postponement and advised Lettley that he could proceed with his present counsel or discharge her and proceed pro se. Lettley did not wish to represent himself, and the court ordered counsel to continue as Lettley's attorney.

The court's refusal to permit defense counsel to withdraw from the case was based on three grounds. First, the judge said that although counsel was ethically barred from using the confidential information to help Lettley, no other attorney would have access to that information either; as a result, Lettley's position would not be improved by an attorney substitution. The court said that withdrawal would be inappropriate unless there was a "reasonable foreseeability or expectation that [the representation] is going to be different" with another attorney, and that here, there was no such reasonable expectation. Second, the judge said that based on the information he had learned at the motion to suppress the identification, "[a]ny belief that the defense will be adversely affected is unreasonable because there's no real basis to believe that the person who admitted to defense [counsel] that he shot the victim [is] worthy of belief." In support of this conclusion, the judge stated that there was "no other evidence that directly or indirectly points to another shooter," and that the victim's eyewitness identification of Lettley was reliable. Finally, the court expressed concern that to permit defense counsel to withdraw under these conditions would be

allowing an open invitation to any defendant who is not happy with the judge that he has been assigned to, who is not happy with the prosecutor who he has in the case, who is not happy with the fact that the witnesses, including the victim, [are] ascertainable and ready, willing and able to testify, to build in a postponement at will by merely having someone contact his or her lawyer and saying "look, I did it. Let me retain you, I did it."

The trial commenced, with the same attorney representing Lettley.

Lettley was convicted by a jury and the court sentenced him to a term of imprisonment of twenty years for attempted murder, and a consecutive term of ten years, the first five without the possibility of parole, for the handgun conviction. He noted a timely appeal to the Court of Special Appeals. We issued a writ of certiorari on our own motion before review by the that court.

As a threshold matter, we note that claims of ineffective assistance of counsel ordinarily are best left for review on post-conviction and not on direct appeal. See Stewart v. State, 319 Md. 81, 92, 570 A.2d 1229, 1234 (1990)

. The claim usually arises from a defendant's contention that he was prejudiced by his attorney's deficient performance. The record is usually inadequate for appellate review and devoid of a response from defense counsel concerning the allegations. Where the claim is based on conflict of interest, and the record is clear, however, there is no need to await a post-conviction hearing. See Austin v. State, 327 Md. 375, 394, 609 A.2d 728, 737 (1992). The record in this case is clear and all the facts necessary for resolution of the issue are contained in the record. No useful purpose would be served by relegating the issue to post-conviction proceedings.

II.

Appellant contends that he was denied effective assistance of counsel on the basis that he did not receive conflict-free representation because defense counsel engaged in dual representation of Appellant and another client. He argues that the trial court's refusal to allow him to obtain a new attorney forced him to trial with counsel who labored under an actual conflict of interest, thereby violating his right to the effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 21 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Appellant argues that his counsel's representation was materially limited by her representation of the confessing client because her interest in forestalling any renewed investigation of the crime, for the benefit of the confessing client, was in conflict with her interest in obtaining an acquittal for Appellant. This conflict limited the extent to which counsel could investigate the crime and the manner in which she could cross-examine witnesses at trial.

The State argues that no conflict of interest existed, reasoning as follows. While it was true that counsel was ethically barred from using the confession to help Appellant, a new attorney would have no way of learning of the confession or of the confessing client's existence. Different counsel, therefore, would have been unable to provide representation superior to that of existing counsel. Counsel's representation of Appellant was unimpaired, and consequently, there was no conflict of interest.

III.

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution1 and Article 21 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights,2 as a safeguard necessary to ensure fundamental human rights of life and liberty, guarantee to any criminal defendant the right to have the assistance of counsel. See Glasser v. United...

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