State v. Norman

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

This appeal arises from the separate dispositions of individual applications for post-conviction relief brought by two defendants who participated together in a drug-related homicide, for which each, in a separate trial, was convicted of murder.

The central issue in these two cases is the constitutional right to the assistance of counsel and the extent to which that right requires representation by counsel who is conflict-free. Each defendant alleges that the relationship between their attorneys created a prejudicial conflict of interest that…