Task: Wrong Candidate Generation
Input (English): recall who told him. When he was arrested he said, “I guess Evelyn told you.” Finally, he told Tony Bone about beating someone with an ax handle. These are only the highlights of the evidence, and although they are circumstantial, when viewed as a whole, a reasonable conclusion is that Schreiber murdered Terry. For this reason, Schreiber has not established prejudice, and his ineffective assistance claims in his § 2254 petition must be denied. IV. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF APPELLATE COUNSEL Schreiber asserts that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to assert each of the claims noted and evaluated above. Because none of the claims had merit, Schreiber’s appellate attorney was not ineffective for failing to bring them. See Clark v. Groose, 16 F.3d 960, 963 (8th Cir.1994) (<HOLDING>). CONCLUSION For the reasons detailed above, 
 Holding statements: (A) holding trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to pursue a meritless issue (B) holding that an attorney is not ineffective for failing to make a meritless objection (C) holding that counsel cannot be deemed ineffective for failing to raise a meritless claim (D) holding that counsel was not deficient in failing to present a meritless argument (E) holding that counsel cannot be deemed ineffective for failing to pursue a meritless claim
Output (English): holding trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to pursue a meritless issue