Does a defendant have a conflict of interest in presenting a conflicting mental state defense?

Defendant's argument confuses conflicts of interests with trial tactics. The presentation [811 P.2d 771] of conflicting defenses does not necessarily create a conflict of interest. Here, both defendant and counsel were attempting to achieve what was best for defendant, but they disagreed on trial strategy. Defendant believed he could convince the jury there was a reasonable doubt that he was the killer; counsel, on the other hand, had the far more plausible belief that a mental state defense might be successful. Because this difference of opinion on strategy did not create a situation in which counsel's efforts on defendant's behalf were threatened by "responsibilities to another client or a third person or by his own interests" (People v. Bonin, supra, 47 Cal.3d at p. 835, 254 Cal.Rptr. 298, 765 P.2d 460), there was no conflict of interest.