Pippins v. State, 00-1588.
Decision Date | 07 May 2003 |
Docket Number | No. 00-1588.,00-1588. |
Citation | 661 N.W.2d 544 |
Parties | Johnny L. PIPPINS, Appellant, v. STATE of Iowa, Appellee. |
Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Thomas H. Preacher, Bettendorf, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Karen Doland, Assistant Attorney General, William E. Davis, County Attorney, and Michael J. Walton, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Johnny L. Pippins was convicted of first-degree robbery and criminal gang participation. His conviction was affirmed on appeal, but the court of appeals reserved Pippins' claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for possible postconviction proceedings. Pippins filed a postconviction-relief action, claiming: (1) his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to call several witnesses, (2) he should have been granted a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, and (3) an alleged conflict of interest of his trial attorney deprived him of his Sixth Amendment rights. The district court denied relief, and Pippins appealed, raising only the conflict-of-interest issue. The court of appeals rejected the postconviction claim, and we granted further review. We affirm the court of appeals and the district court.
Pippins was charged in September 1996, and the court appointed Murray Bell, a Davenport attorney, to represent him. The trial was originally set for December 9, 1996. On December 2, 1996, Bell filed an application to withdraw, stating:
/s/ ________________ Murray W. Bell
No written record was made of the discussion between Bell and the court on Bell's application to withdraw, and Pippins was not present. The court summarized the discussion in a written order dated December 2, 1996:
The trial that was set to begin on December 9 was dismissed by the State because it was unable to find a key witness. The case was refiled and set for trial. On May 5, 1997, in a brief proceeding just prior to the beginning of the trial, Bell referred to his earlier application to withdraw and asked that the December 2 ruling from that file be placed in the record. This request was granted, and no new court order was entered with respect to the application to withdraw.
The court's refusal to appoint new counsel was the subject of Pippins' application for postconviction relief, which stated:
Attorney Murray Bell was the Family Attorney of Cheryl Hillman, [and] was forced to represent dual loyalties. And I was not allow[ed] to be heard or even [be] present when [the judge] made his decision to ... [not] remove Murray Bell.
Two issues are raised by this application: the court's denial of Bell's application to withdraw and the failure of the court to afford Pippins a hearing. We do not address the issue of the court's failure to afford Pippins a hearing because, in any event, Bell's earlier representation of the witness, Hillman, was not a "conflict" that would create a Sixth Amendment violation.
will be or is likely to be adversely affected by the acceptance of the proffered employment....
He further testified that "I didn't know of an actual conflict, but certainly there was... there could be an appearance."
This case is very different from those in which a conflict of interest is most often found: an attorney's representation of multiple parties or a party and another principal in the same legal action. See, e.g., Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475, 488, 98 S.Ct. 1173, 1181, 55 L.Ed.2d 426, 437 (1978)
( ); Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 73, 62 S.Ct. 457, 466, 86 L.Ed. 680, 700 (1942) ( )(decision called into doubt on other grounds, Bourjaily v. United States, 483 U.S. 171, 107 S.Ct. 2775, 97 L.Ed.2d 144 (1987)). The Court in Holloway said:
Joint representation of conflicting interests is suspect because of what it tends to prevent the attorney from doing.... [A] conflict may ... prevent an attorney from challenging the admission of evidence prejudicial to one client but perhaps favorable to another, or from arguing at the sentencing hearing the relative involvement and culpability of his clients in order to minimize the culpability of one by emphasizing that of another.
435 U.S. at 489-90, 98 S.Ct. at 1181, 55 L.Ed.2d at 438.
Wheat v. United States, 486 U.S. 153, 164, 108 S.Ct. 1692, 1700, 100 L.Ed.2d 140, 152 (1988). In our Watson case, we discussed the phenomena of actual and potential conflicts and the legal effects flowing from them:
A trial court has the duty sua sponte to inquire into the propriety of defense counsel's representation when it "knows or reasonably should know that a particular conflict exists." If an actual conflict existed and the trial court knew or should have known of the conflict, yet failed to make inquiry, reversal is required. If the record on appeal shows only the possibility of a conflict, then the case must be remanded for a determination as to whether an actual conflict existed and/or whether the defendant made a valid waiver of his right to independent counsel. If, on remand, an actual conflict is found, prejudice is presumed and reversal is mandated. If there is no indication that the trial court knew or should have known of an actual conflict, and defendant made no objection to his representation, then the defendant, in order to obtain a reversal on appeal, must prove that his counsel rendered, ineffective assistance by proving that an actual conflict adversely affected counsel's performance.
State v. Watson, 620 N.W.2d 233, 238 (Iowa 2000) (quoting Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 347, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 1717, 64 L.Ed.2d 333, 346 (1980) (citations omitted)).
Pippins contends his attorney had an actual, not just a potential, conflict of interest, and under Watson his conviction must be reversed. A determination of whether a conflict exists is a mixed question of fact and law. Cuyler, 446 U.S. at 342, 100 S.Ct. at 1715, 64 L.Ed.2d at 342. Because this is a claim of a Sixth Amendment violation, our review is de novo. Watson, 620 N.W.2d at 235; State v. Vanover, 559 N.W.2d 618, 627 (Iowa 1997). Whether the facts show an actual conflict of interest or a serious potential for conflict is a matter for trial court discretion, and we find an abuse of that discretion only when a party claiming it shows "the discretion was...
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...retained the appeal.II. Scope of Review. The question of whether a conflict exists is a mixed question of fact and law. Pippins v. State, 661 N.W.2d 544, 548 (Iowa 2003). When a defendant claims a violation of the constitutional right to counsel, our review is generally de novo. State v. Sm......
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