Previously this prosecutor had sued the defendant in a civil action arising out of the same accident on behalf of an injured passenger. In condemning this conflict of interest, the court quoted from an earlier opinion, People v. (Attorneys Respondent), 162 Colo. 174, 177, 427 P.2d 330, 331 (1967) (En Banc) (per curiam): "To you, and to any others in the profession, if any there may be, who have labored under the misconception that there is nothing wrong when a district attorney acts as counsel for a litigant in a civil case, and prosecutes a criminal case based upon the facts giving rise to the civil action, we give warning: This court will not countenance or tolerate such conduct.
District attorneys have been disciplined for representing the victim while prosecuting the defendant. See e. g., People v. ___, 162 Colo. 174, 427 P.2d 330 (1967) (per curiam). After noting that the appearance of a conflict of interest was sufficient to justify the charge, the court stated:
We condemn it." People v. --------, 162 Colo. 174, 427 P.2d 330 at 331 (1967). This shall constitute the findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 752 of the Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.
sentation of a defendant in a civil suit does not ipso facto bar that attorney from participating in a subsequent prosecution of the defendant, the attorney should be disqualified if (1) the criminal prosecution is substantially related to the prior civil suit or involves essentially the same facts, or (2) the attorney would be called upon to use against the defendant confidential information gained through their former relationship); Seventh District Committee of the Virginia State Bar v. Gunter, 11 Va. Cir. 349 (1969) (holding that for a prosecutor to remain as counsel in a divorce case and at the same time set in motion the prosecution of his client's adversary was unprofessional, unethical, and deserving of strong censure); Ganger v. Peyton, 379 F.2d 709 (4th Cir. 1967) (where a prosecutor represented the wife in a divorce action and prosecuted the husband for felonious assault, the court vacated the husband's conviction sentence because of the prosecutor's conflict of interest); Colorado v. Attorneys Respondent, 427 P.2d 330 (Colo. 1967) (disciplining an assistant district attorney for using the power and prestige of his office in filing a criminal complaint against a woman and in extraditing her from another state for the purpose of assisting his civil client in collecting a debt allegedly due from the woman). After considering the important policy reasons behind avoiding conflicts of interest between a district attorney's prosecutorial rule on behalf of the state and his duty to protect the interests of his civil clients, we find that, in order to comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct, a district attorney must immediately withdraw from the civil representation of a client when there is substantial reason to believe that charges of criminal conduct have been or will be filed by or against the civil client.
When faced with a situation in which the official obligations and private interests of a prosecutor conflicted, the other courts of this nation, with few exceptions, have taken positions consistent with what we have said here. See, e.g., Ganger v. Peyton, 379 F.2d 709 (4th Cir. 1967); People v. _______, 162 Colo. 174, 427 P.2d 330 (1967) (per curiam); People ex rel. Colorado Bar Ass'n v. ________, 90 Colo. 440, 9 P.2d 611 (1932); In re Guardianship of Angell, 26 Ill. App.2d 239, 167 N.E.2d 711 (1960); State v. Jones, 306 Mo. 437, 268 S.W. 83, 85-86 (1924); In re Truder, 37 N.M. 69, 17 P.2d 951 (1932); People v. Krstovich, 72 Misc.2d 90, 338 N.Y.S.2d 132 (Greene County Ct. 1972); In re Williams, 174 Okla. 386, 50 P.2d 729 (1935); Hall v. State, 24 Okla. Cr. 197, 217 P. 229 (1923); State v. Basham, 84 S.D. 250, 170 N.W.2d 238 (1969); Hosford v. Eno, 41 S.D. 65, 168 N.W. 764 (1918); Callahan v. Jones, 200 Wn. 241, 93 P.2d 326 (1939). But see Commonwealth v. Dunlap, 233 Pa. Super. 38, 335 A.2d 364 (1975); State v. Goodwin, 250 S.C. 403, 158 S.E.2d 195 (1967).
" In People v. (Attorneys Resp.), 162 Colo. 174, 427 P.2d 330, the Court admonished respondents there, and stated: "* * * To you, and to any others in the profession, if any there may be, who have labored under the misconception that there is nothing wrong when a district attorney acts as counsel for a litigant in a civil case, and prosecutes a criminal case based upon the facts giving rise to the civil action, we give warning: This court will not countenance or tolerate such conduct.