153 results for 'cat:"Ineffective Assistance" AND cat:"Murder"'.
J. Harris finds that defendant is entitled to a new trial on a murder charge because counsel should have more thoroughly investigated the state's DNA evidence. Counsel should have requested the state's underlying DNA files and it should have retained an expert to help interpret the files. The failures resulted in prejudice since it was possible that he could have been excluded as the person whose DNA was found on a cigarette butt that became key to his conviction. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: May 16, 2024, Case #: 20200091-CA, Categories: Dna, ineffective Assistance, murder
Per curiam, the appeals court finds the trial court made no error in denying defendant's post-conviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial on charges including attempted murder. In part because defendant's attorney's "mistaken prediction" about defendant's success at beating the charges against him, among other professional advice, was reasonable given the circumstances, and because defendant himself rejected to plea offers that would have given him a chance at less than a life sentence, his claims fail. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 15, 2024, Case #: 22-1140, Categories: ineffective Assistance, murder
J. Johnson finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder based on sufficient evidence. Officers discovered the victim's body, shot in the face with a shotgun, inside the trailer after a 911 report. Defendant claimed the victim had broken into his residence, though officers saw that she was wearing socks and slippers with no dirt on them. Although defendant said he did not know the victim, it was later discovered he had recently met her on a dating website. Furthermore, testimony from defendant's ex-wife and work associate involving threats he had made about shooting them while pointing a gun at them was properly admitted. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Johnson , Filed On: May 15, 2024, Case #: 09-22-00385-CR, Categories: Evidence, ineffective Assistance, murder
J. Bethel finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, aggravated assault and a firearm offense. Although defendant was acquitted of the aggravated assault of one victim, his convictions for the murder and aggravated assault of a second victim and the aggravated assault of a third victim did not render the verdicts repugnant. The jury did not make an affirmative finding that defendant did not fire his gun at the victims' car. Defendant's trial counsel did not perform deficiently in failing to move to suppress evidence of defendant's phone records. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Bethel, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: S24A0528, Categories: ineffective Assistance, murder, Assault
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J. McMillian finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court correctly refused to instruct the jury on impeachment of a witness through bias toward a party. Defendant also failed to show that he was prejudiced by his trial counsel's alleged refusal to allow defendant to testify in his own defense. There was strong evidence of defendant's guilt, including a witness's testimony that defendant told her he shot the victim in the head. Defendant's potential testimony would have been cumulative of other testimony and evidence presented at trial. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: McMillian, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: S24A0014, Categories: ineffective Assistance, murder
J. Pinson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and a firearm offense. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions for shooting the victim 16 times, including evidence that defendant told his coworkers he hated the victim and fantasized about killing him. The trial court correctly refused to give defendant's requested jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter. The victim's actions in yelling, cursing and threatening to get a gun were not enough to provoke a sudden, irresistible passion in a reasonable person to warrant the injury instruction. Defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to object to testimony from defendant's coworkers. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Pinson, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: S24A0405, Categories: ineffective Assistance, murder, Jury Instructions
J. Warren finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Defendant failed to show that he was prejudiced by his trial counsel's failure to object to the prosecutor's closing argument statements mischaracterizing the reasonable doubt standard. Evidence was presented to disprove defendant's claim of self-defense and the prosecutor told the jury that the state had the burden to prove each element of the charged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecutor's statements were also corrected by the jury instructions. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Warren, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: S24A0382, Categories: ineffective Assistance, murder
Per curiam, the appeals court finds the trial court erred by summarily denying defendant's postconviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial on second-degree murder and other charges, which resulted in him being sentenced to at least 30 years' imprisonment. There is enough evidence in the record such that three of defendant's four claims of ineffective assistance should not have been summarily denied, including those alleging his lawyer did not claim stand-your-ground immunity or conduct an independent investigation of the facts before trial. The matter is remanded so defendant can file an amended motion and the trial court can make a more complete record. Reversed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 23-1877, Categories: ineffective Assistance, murder
J. Ahlers finds that defendant's petition seeking relief from his conviction for murdering a taxi driver was properly dismissed because counsel was not ineffective for declining to challenge the motion to strike a potential juror for having a prior felony conviction. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Ahlers, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 23-0407, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Jury, murder
J. Carr finds that defendant was properly convicted of attempted murder and other charges for threatening and stabbing a man with a knife because defendant failed to bring ineffective assistance claims regarding jury polling to the court's attention at the proper time. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Carr, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 22-2002, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Jury, murder
J. Lambert finds the trial court improperly denied defendant's post-conviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel at his second-degree murder trial which ended in his conviction for attempted manslaughter and shooting or throwing deadly missiles into an occupied vehicle. Defendant correctly argues that his counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach the state's key witness, specifically a woman who identified him as the shooter and claimed to have met him and had sexual relations with him years earlier when they went to middle school together. The trial court's order summarily denying defendant's motion is overturned on that ground, and the case is remanded for an evidentiary hearing or attachment of additional records. Reversed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Lambert, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 23-2570, Categories: ineffective Assistance, murder
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
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. 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. Colvin finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and correctly denied defendant's motion for a new trial. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions, including evidence that three eyewitnesses identified defendant as one of the inmates who stabbed the victim. Defendant's counsel failed to object to statements made by the prosecutor in closing arguments telling the jury that it needed to assess the guilt of defendant's co-indictees and saying there is no evidence exonerating defendant. Defendant's claims based on the alleged error are therefore not preserved for appellate review. Defendant failed to show that he was prejudiced by his trial counsel's allegedly deficient performance. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Colvin, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: S24A0117, Categories: ineffective Assistance, murder
Per curiam, the appeals court finds the trial court partially erred in denying defendant's motion for postconviction relief based on ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial which ended in him being convicted of attempted first-degree murder and other charges. The trial court did not attach enough findings to totally refute defendant's claim it denied regarding unimpeached video testimony from the victim, so the case is remanded for the trial court to either hold an evidentiary hearing or attach the needed records. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 22-1055, Categories: Evidence, ineffective Assistance, murder
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