William M. Stevenson v. Lanson Newsome, Warden

I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion because Stevenson’s attorney, William Dean, Jr., was operating under an actual conflict of interest that adversely affected his representation of Stevenson and thus infringed upon Stevenson’s Sixth Amendment rights.

*1564I.

Although the majority correctly recognizes that the threshold question is whether there was an actual conflict of interest, it has incorrectly concluded that there is no evidence that Dean was subject to divided loyalties sufficient to establish an actual conflict of interest.

The critical issue in this case is whether a temporary…