Cuyler v. Sullivan

446 U.S. 335 (1980)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Sullivan (D) was indicted with Carchidi and DiPasquale for first-degree murder of two people. Lawyers DiBona and Peruto represented all three defendants throughout the state proceedings. D had different counsel at the medical inquest, but he thereafter accepted representation from the two lawyers retained by his codefendants because he could not afford to retain his own lawyer. D was the first defendant to come to trial, and the evidence was entirely circumstantial, and at the close of evidence by the prosecution, D's lawyer rested and D was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. The other two defendants were acquitted at separate trials. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed D's conviction. On habeas corpus, the Third Circuit held that the participation by the two attorneys in the trial of D and his codefendants established as a matter of law that both lawyers had represented all three; that resting at the close of the prosecutor's case would have been a legitimate tactical decision made by independent counsel but not with co-counsel. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.