Thomas v. State, 2D99-3664.
| Decision Date | 27 April 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 2D99-3664.,2D99-3664. |
| Parties | Ariel M. THOMAS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
James Marion Moorman, Public Defender, and William L. Sharwell, Assistant Public Defender, Bartow, for Appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Jenny S. Sieg, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
Ariel Thomas appeals from his judgment and sentence for escape, battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting an officer with violence. We are compelled to reverse and remand for a new trial on the issue of the trial court's failure to inquire into defense counsel's conflict of interest, which impinged upon Thomas's fundamental Sixth Amendment right to conflict-free counsel.
Before trial, defense counsel informed the trial court that he had represented a prosecution witness, Greg Pontoon, in the past and wanted the witness instructed so there would be no mention of the past representation. The prosecutor recognized the conflict when he stated that "as far as Mr. Brown representing someone who he's now going to try to impeach based on priors that he represented or was involved in, that's between him and the Florida Bar." The trial court found there was no conflict because the past representation had no connection to the present case.
At trial, Pontoon, who was one of Thomas's cellmates at the time of Thomas's escape, testified that Thomas "slugged" Deputy Martin, took her key, and ran to the other end of the hallway. Pontoon admitted that he had been convicted of four felonies. At the time of the incident, he was being held for a misdemeanor probation violation. Pontoon said that he had not been offered any deals nor were any promises made to him for his testimony. Defense counsel briefly cross-examined Pontoon regarding how many people were in the cell and whether Pontoon believed he would receive favorable treatment due to his testimony.
A criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel encompasses the right to counsel free of ethical conflicts. Wood v. Georgia, 450 U.S. 261, 271, 101 S.Ct. 1097, 67 L.Ed.2d 220 (1981); Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475, 481, 98 S.Ct. 1173, 55 L.Ed.2d 426 (1978). "When defense counsel makes a pretrial disclosure of a possible conflict of interest with the defendant, the trial court must either conduct an inquiry to determine whether the asserted conflict of interest will impair the defendant's right to the effective assistance of counsel or appoint separate counsel." Lee v. State, 690 So.2d 664, 667 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997) (citing Holloway, 435 U.S. at 484, 98 S.Ct. 1173). In Lee, the First District reversed Lee's conviction for first-degree murder because the trial court had failed to obtain a complete waiver of Lee's right to conflict-free counsel. Lee's assistant public defender informed the trial court that the Public Defender's Office had recently represented a key prosecution witness on an offense for which the witness was serving time when Lee confessed to the witness while they were cellmates. In addition, defense counsel had personally represented the prosecution witness in 1985, but counsel stated that he had no memory of the prior representation and did not believe it created a conflict. Defense counsel explained to the court that he had discussed a stipulation with the prosecutor regarding the witness's prior convictions, so counsel would not have to cross-examine his former client on that subject. The trial court then explained to Lee that defense counsel could not use any privileged information gained from the witness in the past. Lee stated that he understood and agreed to waive the conflict. Lee later expressed his dissatisfaction with defense counsel and sought to withdraw his previous waiver of the conflict and have independent counse...
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State v. Alexis
...no harmless error inquiry because prejudice from an attorney's conflict of interest is presumed. Respondent relies on Thomas v. State, 785 So.2d 626 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001), where the Second District Court of Appeal, citing Lee, held that the trial court, having been advised that defense counsel......
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Rutledge v. State, 4D10-5022
...conflict would not be apparent from the record.'" Hannah v. State, 42 So. 3d 951, 955 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (quoting Thomas v. State, 785 So. 2d 626, 629 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)). See also Lee, 690 So. 2d at 669 (recognizing that where there is an alleged conflict of interest between a lawyer and ......
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Rutledge v. State, 4D10–5022.
...conflict would not be apparent from the record.’ ” Hannah v. State, 42 So.3d 951, 955 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (quoting Thomas v. State, 785 So.2d 626, 629 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) ). See also Lee, 690 So.2d at 669 (recognizing that where there is an alleged conflict of interest between a lawyer and c......