State v. Garcia

|,In our adversarial system of justice, each side is represented by opposing counsel. No matter how abhorrent the crime, for that system of justice to function properly, conflict free counsel is essential.

To that end, this court and the United States Supreme Court have set forth certain standards for counsel with which our trial courts must comply. Here, the majority of this court has selected the wrong standards, in no small measure due to the fact that the majority’s analysis begins with a false premise: “at no point before trial did the issue of conflict of interest arise.” Op’n, p. 28.…