Opinion ID: 180652
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Applicable Standards for Habeas Review in this Case

Text: All of the issues before us relate to claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel in state court. The due process clause of the fourteenth amendment guarantees a criminal defendant the right to the effective assistance of counsel on his first appeal as of right. Miller v. Keeney, 882 F.2d 1428, 1431 (9th Cir.1989) (citing Evitts v. Lucey, 469 U.S. 387, 105 S.Ct. 830, 83 L.Ed.2d 821 (1985)). We review claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel under the familiar standard set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). See Smith v. Robbins, 528 U.S. 259, 285, 120 S.Ct. 746, 145 L.Ed.2d 756 (2000); Pizzuto v. Arave, 280 F.3d 949, 969 (9th Cir.2002). First, the petitioner must show that counsel's performance was objectively unreasonable, which in the appellate context requires the petitioner to demonstrate that counsel acted unreasonably in failing to discover and brief a merit-worthy issue. Smith, 528 U.S. at 285, 120 S.Ct. 746; Wildman v. Johnson, 261 F.3d 832, 841-42 (9th Cir.2001). Second, the petitioner must show prejudice, which in this context means that the petitioner must demonstrate a reasonable probability that, but for appellate counsel's failure to raise the issue, the petitioner would have prevailed in his appeal. Smith, 528 U.S. at 285-86, 120 S.Ct. 746. The analysis in this case, however, is somewhat complicated by the fact that each of Moormann's claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel relates to appellate counsel's failure to raise issues regarding the effectiveness of trial counsel's representation. Thus, to determine whether appellate counsel's failure to raise these claims was objectively unreasonable and prejudicial, we must first assess the merits of the underlying claims that trial counsel provided constitutionally deficient representation. See Hain v. Gibson, 287 F.3d 1224, 1231 (10th Cir.2002) (to properly address a claim of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, court must look to the merits of the omitted issue). If trial counsel's performance was not objectively unreasonable or did not prejudice Moormann, then appellate counsel did not act unreasonably in failing to raise a meritless claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, and Moormann was not prejudiced by appellate counsel's omission. See Wildman, 261 F.3d at 840 ([A]ppellate counsel's failure to raise issues on direct appeal does not constitute ineffective assistance when appeal would not have provided grounds for reversal.); Pollard v. White, 119 F.3d 1430, 1435 (9th Cir.1997) (A hallmark of effective appellate counsel is the ability to weed out claims that have no likelihood of success, instead of throwing in a kitchen sink full of arguments with the hope that some argument will persuade the court.). We review the district court's denial of Moormann's habeas petition de novo. See McMurtrey v. Ryan, 539 F.3d 1112, 1118 (9th Cir.2008). The deference required by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), 28 U.S.C. § 2254, does not apply because Moormann filed his habeas petition before AEDPA became effective. See Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 336, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997); Moormann II, 426 F.3d at 1047-48.