Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s habeas petition challenging his drug distribution and maintenance of drug house charges on ground that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to preserve objections, adequately cross-examine witnesses and develop certain favorable factual points. Dist. Ct. could properly apply Richter presumption that state court adjudicated on merits all of defendant’s claims at issue in his habeas petition when it resolved all but one of said claims. Accordingly, applicable deferential review under section 2254(d) applied, so as to permit Dist. Ct. to find that defendant had failed to establish any prejudice with respect to counsel’s trial performance, where counsel’s alleged errors would not have changed outcome of trial, given unrebutted testimony from police officer, who refuted defendant’s defense that he was mere bystander at crime scene because he had recently moved into home where police had found drugs at issue in charged offenses.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel