United States Third Circuit

Conviction of defendant for obsessive phone calls and faxes to his ex-girlfriend is vacated and remanded, where: 1) a First Amendment challenge to V.I. Code Ann. tit. 14 section 706(1), under which defendant was convicted, would have been viable had it been raised during trial; 2) by virtue of trial counsel's failure to preserve the First Amendment challenge, the prejudice prong of the Strickland test is satisfied; and 3) because the record is insufficiently developed regarding whether trial counsel's performance fell below professional norms, an evidentiary hearing must be held to make such determination.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/12/2014
• Published 09/12/2014

Judges

• Greenaway

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel