Winkler v. Keane

OPINION

GOETTEL, District Judge.

This habeas corpus petition raises two concise grounds which, surprisingly, do raise a constitutional issue. The grounds are:(1) Whether the existence of a contingency fee agreement between petitioner and trial counsel is per se violative of petitioner’s Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, and(2) Whether the contingency fee agreement in this case resulted in constitutionally deficient legal representation.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Petitioner was indicted along with a co-defendant for the murder of his father on October 24, 1980. The co-defendant…