536 results for 'cat:"Ineffective Assistance"'.
J. Edwards upholds defendant's jury conviction for violation of a protective order and guilty plea to burglary for the kidnapping and rape of his girlfriend. Defense counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to a psychologist's testimony pertaining to coercive control relationships, especially in light of the government's overwhelming evidence against defendant. Affirmed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Edwards, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 22-3058 , Categories: ineffective Assistance, Kidnapping, Restraining Order
J. Gallagher finds defendant fails to show he received ineffective assistance during his firearm possession case. The lack of binding precedent at the time of defendant's conviction as to whether the Second Amendment allows convicted felons to possess firearms renders his conviction for possession of a firearm constitutional, while the Supreme Court's decision in Bruen only altered the analysis framework for future Second Amendment cases. Therefore, defendant's attorney was not required to raise the argument before the trial court. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1163, Categories: Constitution, Firearms, ineffective Assistance
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J. Mortensen finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of aggravated assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child. Defendant’s wife reported to police that defendant assaulted her in front of their five children, but later recanted her statement and asserted her Fifth Amendment right 47 times at trial. Defendant argues that hearing the invocations over and over prejudiced the jury, but he did not object to the invocations prior to appeal. Also, his argument of ineffective assistance of counsel fails, as what defendant views as error by counsel would not have impacted the outcome of the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mortensen, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 20220006-CA, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Assault, Domestic Violence
J. Thomas finds that the district court properly denied a habeas corpus petition in a case in which defendant was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of murder of one woman and the rape, sodomy and forced oral copulation of another. Defendant claimed that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge a pathologist's qualifications after he was contracted to perform an autopsy in the matter. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Thomas, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 20-99011, Categories: Death Penalty, Habeas, ineffective Assistance
J. Stranch finds the lower court properly granted the inmate habeas relief on his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. His attorney's failure to call alibi witnesses in light of evidence a witness saw the inmate, who did not own a car, at home less than seven minutes before a robbery committed at a gas station more than three miles away was highly prejudicial. Additionally, the inmate was also entitled to relief on his jury claims because the trial court's failure to analyze the prosecution's reasoning behind striking six black jurors and claiming "some explanation" was enough to justify the jurors' exclusion was a procedural error. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Stranch, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 22-1705, Categories: Habeas, ineffective Assistance, Jury
J. Mortensen finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of his two minor daughters following his guilty plea. As part of the plea agreement, a sentence of two concurrent terms of six years to life was to be recommended, but at the sentencing hearing, the victims testified that they felt the sentence to be too lenient. The lower court sentenced defendant to 15 years to life for each count, to run concurrently. Defendant argues the prosecutor breached the plea agreement and the court should not have considered the victims’ view on the sentence. Defendant also asserts he received ineffective assistance by trial counsel for failing to object to the prosecutor’s statements at sentencing. However, there was no breach of the plea agreement and no deficiency in defendant’s legal representation. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mortensen, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 20221055-CA, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. McFadden finds that the lower court properly denied defendant’s motion for a new trial. The lower court properly instructed the jury on mutual combat. Thus, counsel was not deficient by failing to preserve defendant’s objection to the charge. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: McFadden, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: A24A0166, Categories: ineffective Assistance
J. Gamble finds that defendant was properly denied relief from his kidnapping and robbery conviction. Defendant contends counsel should have taken witness depositions before trial, but doing so would not have affected the outcome and, instead, would have resulted in witnesses identifying defendant before trial. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gamble, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 22-1589, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Robbery, Kidnapping
J. Dorrian finds defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel regarding the filing of a notice of alibi prior to his trial on rape charges is contradicted by the record, which shows his attorney filed the notice more than six months before trial; therefore, the claim is meritless. Meanwhile, the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for acquittal because the victim's testimony established all the elements of the offenses with which he was charged and was sufficient to prove the assaults. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Dorrian, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1139, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Lavin finds that the lower court improperly denied defendant's postconviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant pleaded guilty in adult criminal court to murder of a police officer via accountability, a crime she committed at age 15 at the behest of her 20-year-old boyfriend. Counsel orally asserted a proportionate penalties violation, but failed to amend defendant's petition to actually include this petition in her filing. Further, the state does not dispute that if defendant lost a single day of good time credit, her sentence would become a de facto life sentence. Reversed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Lavin, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 220807, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Sentencing
J. Overstreet finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of sexual assault of his four-year-old daughter. Defense counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to the admission of two positive STD tests, as this evidence was admissible at trial despite the physician-patient privilege attached to them under the exception set forth in the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Supreme Court, Judge: Overstreet, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 129289, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Luthy finds that counsel should have asked for a unanimity jury instruction on an aggravated sexual abuse of a child charge. But defendant was not prejudiced since the activity supporting the charge occurred during the same interaction that resulted in his rape of child conviction. And admission of hearsay testimony was likely error but did not cause prejudice since it was the same as other properly admitted evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Luthy, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 20210381-CA, Categories: Confrontation, ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender
J. LaGrua finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and other offenses. The trial court correctly admitted a detective's testimony about out-of-court statements made by two witnesses. The testimony did not directly comment on the witnesses' credibility but instead focused on what their demeanors were. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel was deficient for failing to object to the testimony. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: LaGrua, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: S24A0179, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. Collins finds that the district court properly denied defendant's habeas corpus petition challenging his state court convictions for attempted murder, battery and burglary arising from his stabbing attack on multiple employees at the Clark County Social Services office in Henderson, Nevada. Defendant contended that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to pursue a defense of voluntary intoxication with respect to the charges that required the state to prove specific intent. Defendant did not present sufficient evidence for the ineffective assistance claims. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Collins, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 21-15806, Categories: Habeas, ineffective Assistance, Murder
J. McEvers finds that the district court properly entered an amended criminal judgment and a district court order denying defendant's request to withdraw his conditional guilty pleas and his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant was charged with two counts of gross sexual imposition. Defendant did not show that his counsel rendered ineffective assistance. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: McEvers, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 2024ND47, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender, Plea
Per curiam, the North Dakota Supreme Court finds that the district court properly denied an application for post-conviction relief after defendant alleged ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant claimed his counsel did not request a psychological evaluation to determine his competency to assist in his defense before his change of plea. Affirmed.
Court: North Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 2024ND50, Categories: Competence, ineffective Assistance
J. Pipkin rules that the trial court improperly convicted defendant of cruelty to children in the first degree and finds that defendant is entitled to a new trial on that offense due to juror misconduct. The verdict form given to the jury incorrectly listed the charge as cruelty to children in the third degree. Upon being recalled for a second round of deliberations after the mistake was discovered, a juror used her phone to Google the classifications of the offense of cruelty to children and then shared the information with other jurors. The trial court correctly convicted defendant of sexual battery. Defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for allowing defendant to proceed to trial with only one hearing aid. Defendant twice told the trial court that he was able to hear. Reversed in part.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Pipkin, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: A23A1752, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Jury, Sex Offender
J. Moll finds the lower court properly dismissed the inmate's third habeas petition because his previous habeas attorney's failure to file an ineffective assistance claim against his trial counsel was not, in itself, ineffective assistance of counsel. The inmate claimed his trial attorney's performance was deficient on account of her failure to request a self-defense jury instruction, but because the victim was shot in the back as he attempted to flee and the inmate had no evidence to corroborate his claim he saw the victim reach for a gun, there was no evidence to support a self-defense instruction. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Moll, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: AC45982, Categories: Habeas, ineffective Assistance, Self Defense