Fogarty v. State

Without Fogarty's (defendant) knowledge, his wife agreed to pay his criminal defense counsel a $25,000 advance fee, reducible to $10,000 if the charges against him were dismissed and another suspect identified; the charges were not dismissed, and a jury acquitted Fogarty on some counts but convicted him on others. Fogarty appealed, arguing the fee arrangement created a conflict of interest because his attorney stood to earn more money if the case proceeded to trial rather than being dismissed, giving counsel no incentive to seek dismissal; the appeals court found the arrangement was an improper contingency fee but concluded Fogarty had not shown it actually affected his counsel's performance, and affirmed his conviction.