State Ex Rel. Postelwaite v. Bechtold

Haden, Chief Justice:

This is an appeal by custodial officers of the county and State from a final judgment of the Circuit Court of Wood County in a consolidated habeas corpus proceeding which declared the convictions of Robert Gordon Postel-waite and Gary Lee Frazier to be void and unenforceable on the ground that their jointly retained counsel had rendered ineffective assistance of counsel to each by reason of attempting to defend both against an identical criminal charge in the same trial.

Postelwaite and Frazier had been jointly indicted for the crime of receiving stolen property, a 1968…