In the context of a court-martial, ineffective assistance of counsel refers to a claim by a military defendant that their defense counsel provided them with legal representation that fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that this deficient representation prejudiced the outcome of their case. Under the Uniform Code…
Today the court will hear oral argument in Premo v. Moore, a case with potential ramifications for court-martials. Courtesy of SCOTUSBlog here is a summary: The Sixth Amendment secures a criminal defendant’s right to effective assistance of counsel. Under Strickland v. Washington (1984), that right is violated when a lawyer’s…
In United States v. Darling, ACCA affirmed because appellant could not establish the prejudice prong of an IAC “claim.” This is worth reading for those cases where the accused is found not guilty after a contested case, but during sentencing there is a concession that the accused was actually guilty. …
On Wednesday, ACCA will hear oral argument in United States v. Vargaspuentas, No. ARMY 20091096, on these three interesting issues: I. WHETHER APPELLANT’S TRIAL DEFENSE COUNSEL INFORMED HIM HIS GUILTY PLEA MIGHT RESULT IN DEPORTATION. II. WHETHER COUNSEL’S ADVICE REGARDING DEPORTATION WAS INEFFECTIVE. SEE PADILLA V. KENTUCKY, 08-651 (2010); STRICKLAND…
Just the other day, alerted by SCOTUSBlog I posted Jones v. Williams as a case to watch at SCOTUS. The issue once again: Issue: Whether the Tenth Circuit violated 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) by granting habeas relief for ineffective assistance of counsel during plea bargain negotiations to a defendant who…
SCOTUSBlog has the 3 June 2010 petitions to watch at SCOTUS. Here is an interesting one. Title: Jones v. Williams Docket: 09-948 Issue: Whether the Tenth Circuit violated 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1) by granting habeas relief for ineffective assistance of counsel during plea bargain negotiations to a defendant who was…
NMCCA has it’s opinion in United States v. Denedo, the petition for error coram nobis that his been winding its way through the courts, include the United States Supreme Court. Essentially the court finds that even if there were IAC, petitioner has not established prejudice. Back to CAAF? As it…
Sane or insane, Major Hasan’s mental state before and during his alleged offenses will be raised in his court-martial. Death penalty cases are different so sayeth they U.S. Supreme Court. Everything must be raised that could possibly have some impact on either the finding of guilt to a capital charge…
NMCCA has issued six new decisions, of which four are merits. United States v. Maharrey, post-trial delay case. United States v. Thornton. Appellant raises ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) and sufficiency of the evidence. The findings and sentence are set-aside based on the IAC. The IAC relates to several issues: …