No. 25-5145

Nicholas Bernard Acklin v. John Q. Hamm, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al.

Lower Court: Eleventh Circuit
Docketed: 2025-07-18
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: attorney-ethics conflict-of-interest constitutional-rights death-penalty habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel
Key Terms:
HabeasCorpus Punishment Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2025-09-29
Question Presented (AI Summary)

In the extraordinary circumstances of this death penalty case, was it unreasonable for the state court to conclude that the defense attorney did not have an actual conflict of interest?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

This is a death penalty case from Alabama in which the following occurred: (1) the defense attorney was being paid in substantial part by the defendant’s father; (2) the attorney learned before trial that the defendant had been abused as a child by his father —the same person paying the attorney; (3) the defendant’s father told the attorney that he would be “done with helping with this case” if the attorney presented evidence of the abuse as mitigation at trial; (4) the attorney never informed the defendant or the court of any conflict of interest and instead privately obtained a signed document from the defendant agreeing to forego any use of the abuse evidence; (5) the attorney then called the father to testify at trial that the defendant was raised in a supportive home; and (6) the trial court expressly relied on the father’s testimony that the defendant had a positive upbringing when imposing the death penalty. The state appellate court held that the attorney did not have a n actual conflict of interest, and therefore the defendant was not denied his constitutional right to effective , conflict -free counsel . On habeas review, the Eleventh Circuit held that the state court’s decision was not unreasonable under 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d). The question presented is this: In the extraordinary circumstances of this death penalty case, was it unreasonable for the state court to conclude that the defense attorney did not have an actual conflict of interest ?

Docket Entries

2025-10-06
Petition DENIED.
2025-09-04
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2025.
2025-09-02
Reply of Nicholas Acklin submitted.
2025-09-02
Reply of petitioner Nicholas Acklin filed.
2025-08-18
Brief of John Hamm, Commissioner, ADOC, and Warden, Holman Correctional in opposition submitted.
2025-08-18
Brief of respondent John Q. Hamm, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, et al. in opposition filed.
2025-07-11
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due August 18, 2025)
2025-04-29
Application (24A1040) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until July 11, 2025.
2025-04-24
Application (24A1040) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from June 11, 2025 to July 11, 2025, submitted to Justice Thomas.

Attorneys

John Hamm, Commissioner, ADOC, and Warden, Holman Correctional
Edmund Gerard LaCour Jr.Office of the Attorney General, Respondent
Edmund Gerard LaCour Jr.Office of the Attorney General, Respondent
Nicholas Acklin
Patrick Mark MulvaneySouthern Center for Human Rights, Petitioner
Patrick Mark MulvaneySouthern Center for Human Rights, Petitioner