The following is not meant to be legal advice and may be outdated research.
Would there be a conflict of interest if the public defender’s office represented, on appeal, a defendant who was represented below by counsel who presently represents, on appeal, a client that the public defender’s office represented below?
Generally, a criminal defendant has a constitutional right to representation free from conflicts of interest. A defendant is entitled to undivided loyalty and untrammeled assistance from his counsel. Uhl v. Municipal Court of the
Under California Penal Code Section 1240(a)(1) (West 1982), “[t]he court shall appoint counsel other than the State Public Defender when the State Public Defender has refused to represent the person because of conflict of interest or other reason…” This means that a conflict of interest is a reason for the public defender’s office to refuse to take a case.
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