V state more than a hundred years ago, 1915, the most recent which

East State in the Supreme Court in 2010, although they don't refer to

Caesar's wife. That requirement is also embedded in the prosecutor's

statutory oath 15-18-2, which requires impartially and without

fear or favor discharge my duties as district attorney and take only my lawful compensation so help me God.

The general rule on conflicts of interest for lawyers is in rule of professional

conduct 1.7 and we all know it's all drummed into us

that we cannot have a conflict of interest.

And if we do, we have to withdraw or we will be disqualified.

The basic idea is that a conflict of interest impairs the lawyer's independent professional judgment.

That's the test of a conflict and whether it can be weighed and whether it's disqualifying.

And that conflict is not just financial.

It can be any conflict that impairs

your independent professional judgment.

And you see that in McLaughlin v Payne.

The court asked what was a personal interest for purposes of disqualification.

It's anything that impairs professional judgment.

That's reflected in the ABA standards that were quoted by Mr. Merchant, which list the

prosecutors personal, political, financial, professional business property or other interests or relationships and that's

really embedded in the prosecutor's oath to act impartially and the earlier

disqualification order by Judge McBurney was based on political interests, not financial.

What my colleagues have described as forensic misconduct

...