Opinion ID: 412737
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Overview--Cumulative Effect of Errors.

Text: 17 Viewed in totality, this case presents a picture of two young attorneys, recently graduated from law school, who were thrust by court appointment into a capital murder jury trial without sufficient experience to deal effectively with the difficult judgments that such a case necessarily entails. We recognize that counsel are presumed to have rendered effective assistance and the petitioner must overcome this presumption to establish his or her ineffective assistance claim. Eldridge v. Atkins, supra, 665 F.2d at 231; Thomas v. Wyrick, 535 F.2d 407, 413 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 868, 97 S.Ct. 178, 50 L.Ed.2d 148 (1976). Moreover, the petitioner's burden in overcoming this presumption is a heavy one. E.g. McQueen v. Swenson, 498 F.2d 207, 216 (8th Cir.1974). The exercise of reasonable professional judgment, even if later proven unwise, does not constitute ineffective assistance. Knott v. Mabry, 671 F.2d 1208, 1212 (8th Cir.1982); Walker v. Solem, 648 F.2d 1188 (8th Cir.1981). 18 In this case, Harris has overcome the presumption of effective assistance. No single error made by the petitioner's appointed counsel is of constitutional dimension. Yet, when viewed cumulatively, the multiple errors revealed in the record, as discussed below, demonstrate that counsel's total performance was below the level of professional skill customary for competent counsel similarly situated. See Cooper v. Fitzharris, 586 F.2d 1325, 1333 (9th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 974, 99 S.Ct. 1542, 59 L.Ed.2d 793 (1979). 19