Beets v. Collins
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
986 F.2d 1478 (1993)
After her fifth husband, Jimmy Don Beets, disappeared and was presumed dead in a boating accident, Betty Lou Beets (defendant) hired attorney E. Ray Andrews on a contingent-fee basis to help her collect insurance and death benefits. Before she collected any benefits, she was arrested for capital murder after Jimmy Don's body, along with that of her fourth husband, was found buried on her property. Andrews agreed to defend her at trial, and shortly after trial began, Beets signed away all literary and media rights to her story to Andrews's son as full payment of his fee. The trial judge was unaware of this arrangement until Beets requested appellate counsel three months after trial and never inquired whether Beets had knowingly waived her right to conflict-free counsel. Beets was convicted of murdering her fifth husband for the insurance money and argued on appeal that the media-rights deal created a Sixth Amendment conflict of interest that deprived her of effective assistance of counsel.
Whether a contract granting trial counsel media rights to a client's case as payment of fees violates ethical rules and creates a Sixth Amendment conflict of interest requiring reversal.