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Beasley v. State

Double jeopardy did not bar retrial following the defendant's conviction for cocaine trafficking, because the error he complained of—a conflict of interest on the part of the trial judge—did not implicate his guilt or innocence or the sufficiency of the evidence the State introduced at trial and the State adduced sufficient evidence of guilt to authorize his conviction in his first trial.

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In 2011, Robert C. Beasley was convicted of trafficking cocaine, and he appealed to this Court, enumerating various errors including a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence and a conflict of interest on the part of the trial judge.1 This Court ruled that it could not determine on the record whether the conflict of interest issue had been preserved for review, so the case was remanded for the trial court to make findings of fact as to when Beasley and his counsel first learned of the grounds for disqualification of the trial judge.2 On remand, the State consented to a new trial, which the trial court granted without making findings as to the conflict of interest issue, over Beasley’s objection on double jeopardy grounds. Beasley now appeals from the order granting the new trial contending that 1 the trial court erred by declining to hold an evidentiary hearing on the alleged conflict of interest issue, 2 a new trial was an inappropriate remedy for the alleged conflict of interest, 3 double jeopardy bars a new trial, and 4 the evidence was insufficient to support the trial verdict. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

The record shows that Beasley, Kayla Stewart, and Natdaniel Whetstone were indicted for trafficking cocaine; Beasley and Stewart were tried jointly, with Whetstone testifying for the State in exchange for the dismissal of his charge.3 As outlined in this Court’s opinion in Stewart’s appeal of her conviction for simple possession, which we reversed for insufficient evidence of her guilt, the

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