California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Cox, 280 Cal.Rptr. 692, 53 Cal.3d 618, 809 P.2d 351 (Cal. 1991):
"Included in the right to effective assistance of counsel is 'a correlative right to representation that is free from conflicts of interest.' [Citations.]" (People v. Bonin (1989) 47 Cal.3d 808, 834, 254 Cal.Rptr. 298, 765 P.2d 460.) As a general proposition, such conflicts "embrace all situations in which an attorney's loyalty to, or efforts on behalf of, a client are threatened by his responsibilities to another client or a third person or his own interests. [Citation.]" (Id., at p. 835, 254 Cal.Rptr. 298, 765 P.2d 460.)
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