California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Heartsman, A135202 (Cal. App. 2015):
The constitutional right to assistance of counsel "includes the correlative right to representation free from any conflict of interest that undermines counsel's loyalty to his or her client. . . . 'As a general proposition, such conflicts "embrace all situations in which an attorney's loyalty to, or efforts on behalf of, a client are threatened by his responsibilities to another client or a third person or his own interests. [Citation.]' " (People v. Doolin (2009) 45 Cal.4th 390, 417.) A claim of a conflict of interest "is one variety of claim that counsel provided ineffective assistance. Hence, to obtain reversal of a criminal verdict, the defendant must demonstrate that (1) counsel labored under an actual conflict of interest that adversely affected counsel's performance, and (2) absent counsel's deficiencies arising from the conflict, it is reasonably probable the result of the proceeding would have been different. [Citations.] [] When addressing an appellate claim that a conflict of interest adversely affected counsel's performance, the reviewing
Page 31
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.