Thomas Ray West, Petitioner v. the People of the State of Colorado, Respondent. Raymond Albert Cano…

Summary

The court held that a defendant asserting ineffective assistance based on counsel's concurrent or successive representation of prosecution witnesses must prove both an actual conflict of interest and an adverse effect by a preponderance of the evidence. It overruled prior state precedent to the extent it did not require proof of adverse effect and adopted a three-part test requiring an objectively reasonable alternative defense strategy linked to the conflict. The court affirmed the judgments in part and remanded for the trial courts to apply that test to West's and Cano's claims.