United States First Circuit

Denial of petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking to invalidate petitioner's conviction and life sentence on the ground that his court-appointed attorney provided ineffective assistance, is affirmed, where: 1) the attorney did not interview a prosecution witness before trial and declined to interview or to call at trial any of a number of witnesses who, petitioner claims, could have rebutted the prosecution witness's testimony; 2) under Strickland v. Washington, petitioner must show not only that his counsel's performance was deficient, but also that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense; and 3) failing to interview the prosecution witness lacks the type of record support that would compel a finding of prejudice.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/26/2014
• Published 08/26/2014

Judges

• Kayatta

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel