Opinion ID: 585300
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel--Guilt Phase (Issue IV)

Text: 26 With respect to Duest's claim that he was denied ineffective assistance of trial counsel at the guilt phase by virtue of his counsel's failure to object to improper prosecutorial statements, we note that in order to prove ineffective assistance of counsel, a habeas petitioner must show that his lawyer performed deficiently, and that such deficient performance prejudiced his client. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); United States v. Yizar, 956 F.2d 230, 232 n. 8 (11th Cir.1992). An ineffective assistance of counsel claim presents a mixed question of law and fact and is therefore subject to de novo review. Lusk v. Dugger, 890 F.2d 332, 336 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 3297, 111 L.Ed.2d 805 (1990). 27 In this case, whether or not trial counsel behaved deficiently, his failure to object to the prosecutor's allegedly improper statements did not prejudice his client. To prove prejudice, petitioner must show that  'there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceedings would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.'  Yizar, 956 F.2d at 232 n. 13 (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068). Prosecutorial misstatements do not constitute reversible error unless such misstatements render the trial so fundamentally unfair as to amount to a denial of due process. Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 645, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 1872, 40 L.Ed.2d 431 (1974). Given the nature of the (mis)statements in this case, the prosecutor's behavior in this case did not render Duest's trial so fundamentally unfair as to amount to a denial of due process. Thus, any objection by defense counsel would have proven fruitless. Defense counsel's failure to object to these statements was not ineffective assistance. 28