Beard v. Commonwealth

Opinion of the Court by

Justice NOBLE.

Appellant, Charles Brent Beard, appeals the decision of the Court of Appeals affirming his conviction for drug trafficking. He raises only one assignment of error: that his appointed trial counsel had a sufficient conflict of interests that the trial court’s failure to appoint different counsel constituted reversible error. This Court agrees that the trial court erred and therefore reverses.

I. Background

Appellant’s arrest and conviction resulted from series of controlled buys performed by Jackie Davis for the police. Davis, who was on probation at the…