531 results for 'cat:"Ineffective Assistance"'.
J. Golemon finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder. Testimony from 13 witnesses, ballistics and firearms evidence, photographs, and surveillance video clearly showing shots fired from defendant's vehicle support the conviction. Though defendant claims self-defense, the record shows no request for such a jury instruction. Counsel's decisions at trial all fall within the range of reasonable professional assistance. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Golemon , Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 09-22-00337-CR, Categories: Evidence, ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. LaGrua finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, aggravated assault and firearm offenses. The trial court correctly refused to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter because the evidence did not support the charge. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's aggravated assault and firearm possession convictions and to allow the jury to find that defendant was involved in a second shooting. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: LaGrua, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: S24A0352, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Murder, Assault
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J. Agee finds the lower court improperly rejected the inmate's request for a new trial on perjury charges. The inmate argued he deserved a new trial because his counsel was ineffective for failing to appeal erroneous jury instructions. The state agrees that counsel was ineffective on this issue and the inmate is entitled to a new trial. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-6272, Categories: Habeas, ineffective Assistance, Jury Instructions
J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder predicated on aggravated assault. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's conviction and to show that he was a party to the crimes, including defendant's admission that he helped the accomplice during his fight with the victim and evidence that defendant's clothes were covered with the victim's blood. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient or that he was prejudiced by the alleged deficiencies. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: S24A0170, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Ransom finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant on drug charges. The court was not required to appoint counsel to represent defendant at his initial appearance or bail hearing, because these are not critical stages of the prosecution. Further, defendant's claim regarding the denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence because detectives lacked jurisdiction to arrange drug buys outside city limits is not preserved for judicial review. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Supreme Court, Judge: Ransom, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: SC100170, Categories: Drug Offender, ineffective Assistance, Due Process
J. Menashi finds that the district court properly revoked probation imposed upon defendant's conviction for drug trafficking and sentenced him to prison for violating the terms of release by repeatedly raping his teenage daughter over the course of a year. Defendant contends he received ineffective assistance at the violation hearing when counsel failed to present medical evidence indicating he was physically incapable of rape due to previous injuries, but he failed to demonstrate that any shortcoming had been prejudicial in light of his admission that he had sex with his wife on the same air mattress where some of the rapes occurred. Meanwhile, the sentence did not constitute an abuse of discretion. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Menashi, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-1775, Categories: Evidence, ineffective Assistance, Probation
J. Ransom finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of assault and armed criminal action after failing to appoint counsel at her initial appearance and excluding certain evidence of the victim's violence behavior during trial. Defendant was not entitled to counsel at an initial appearance, and the court reasonably allowed only two of six accounts of the victim's alleged violent character to support defendant's claim that the victim started the fight. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Supreme Court, Judge: Ransom, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: SC100303, Categories: Evidence, ineffective Assistance, Assault
J. Wood finds that the lower court properly dismissed defendant's habeas petition challenging his conviction for murdering his wife. Defendant argues that his counsel was ineffective for failing to discover evidence that cast doubt on an expert witness's testimony against him. However, a state court already found defendant waived this claim by failing to raise it on direct appeal, and the state-court waiver means that he procedurally defaulted the claim for federal-court purposes as well. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Wood, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 23-2125, Categories: Habeas, ineffective Assistance, Experts
J. Cadish finds the district court properly granted defendant's petition for postconviction relief. Convicted for robbery and weapons charges as well as two counts of murder, defendant's counsel failed to present testimony to impeach his codefendants' testimony. Evidence showed defendant's attorneys received a letter from an inmate saying a codefendant admitted defendant did not kill the victims and the codefendant lied in order to receive a lenient sentence. Another statement from another codefendant characterizing defendant as a violent person was not described in the state's notice of intent to seek the death penalty or its notices of evidence in aggravation. Based on the omissions, counsel should have challenged the introduction of the evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Nevada Supreme Court, Judge: Cadish , Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 83685, Categories: Habeas, ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel based on the fact that his second hired attorney also presided over his preliminary hearing in this same case. Defendant presents no specific evidence that his counsel's performance was in any way deficient despite this conflict of interest that went unremarked. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 22-3086, Categories: Drug Offender, ineffective Assistance
J. Dillard finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, rape, incest, sexual exploitation of children, influencing a witness and other related offenses. The trial court correctly denied defendant's motion for a new trial. Defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to object when defendant's handwritten notes to the victim were allowed to go out with the jury during deliberations. The notes were original documentary evidence, therefore any continuing witness objection put forth by defendant's counsel would have been overruled. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Dillard, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: A24A0533, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Dillard finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of child molestation and sexual battery as a lesser-included offense of aggravated sexual battery. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions, including the victim's testimony. The trial court did not commit any error by refusing to find that defendant's convictions were mutually exclusive or by denying defendant's ineffective assistance claim. Defendant cannot show that his counsel's strategic decision not to attack the victim's credibility was unreasonable. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Dillard, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: A24A0157, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender
J. Welbaum finds legislation to legalize recreational marijuana and allow individuals to cultivate marijuana plants at their homes did not de-criminalize conduct that occurred before it was put into effect and, in any case, defendant's conviction for possession of several plants was based on plants visible from the outside of his home, conduct still prohibited under the new laws. Meanwhile, defendant's consent to allow police to search his home negates any claim for ineffective assistance of counsel because a motion to suppress the results of the search would have been unsuccessful. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welbaum, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1609, Categories: Drug Offender, ineffective Assistance, Search
J. Bower finds that defendant was properly denied relief from her conviction of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, possession of marijuana, and child endangerment, after drugs were found in her home and one child tested positive for methamphetamine, as defendant did not attempt to demonstrate she would have avoided pleaded guilty had counsel approached her defense in a different manner. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bower, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 22-1793, Categories: Drug Offender, ineffective Assistance, Child Victims
J. Van Cleef uphold the trial court’s judgment of a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault and family violence “occlusion,” which requires enhanced penalties under Texas law for choking the victim, a mother of three young children. The trial court properly allowed the victim to testify about the defendant’s prior conviction and allowed a state witness to testify about the victim’s truthfulness. Furthermore, the conviction is supported by sufficient evidence, including the victim's detailed testimony that defendant would force her to brush his teeth and bathe him after he raped and sodomized. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Van Cleef, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00128-CR , Categories: Evidence, ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender
J. Rivera finds that the appellate division improperly granted defendant a writ of error coram nobis on grounds that appellate counsel failed to seek direct appeal concerning defendant's abrupt removal from the courtroom while the verdict was being announced. No "practical opportunity" arose to provide warnings about removal in light of disruptive behavior exhibited by defendant, a teenager convicted of attempted murder, and a claim alleging rights violation would have lacked merit. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Rivera, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 42, Categories: ineffective Assistance
J. Smith finds the witnesses' close relationships to the victim and minor variations in their testimony does not render defendant's sexual imposition conviction against the weight of the evidence. The testimony established all elements of the offense, while the jury was in the best position to determine the witnesses' credibility. Meanwhile, because defendant's girlfriend was not present at the time of the assault, his attorney's failure to call the woman as a witness did not constitute ineffective assistance, as her testimony would not have included any relevant evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1678, Categories: Evidence, ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender
J. Henderson upholds defendant's 120-month sentence for his conviction for conspiracy to distribute more than 280 grams of crack cocaine. Contrary to defendant's claim, the safety valve provision does not support his contention defense counsel should have argued he was eligible for sentencing without considering the statutory minimum. Affirmed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Henderson, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 20-3083 , Categories: Drug Offender, ineffective Assistance, Sentencing
J. Cradle finds the lower court properly dismissed the inmate's petition for a writ of habeas corpus based on ineffective assistance of counsel. His attorney's decision not to call an identification evidence expert witness at trial was sound strategy based on the unreliability of such evidence, which likely would have been ruled inadmissible by the trial court. Additionally, while the attorney should have interviewed the alibi witness's children, who were also present when she allegedly dropped the inmate off at the scene of the crime, their potential testimony would have been cumulative and would not have changed the outcome of the trial because they were not present at the time of the shooting. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cradle, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: AC45569, Categories: Habeas, ineffective Assistance, Robbery
J. Abele finds that although defendant claimed both the victim and her husband lied about the victim's age before they engaged in sexual conduct, her attorney's failure to argue the state could not establish the mens rea for her charge of pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor did not constitute ineffective assistance. Defendant admitted in her plea hearing she knew the victim was under the age of 18 and that she willfully created recordings of their sexual acts. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Abele, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1502, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Plea, Child Pornography