Opinion ID: 550005
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Issue.

Text: 12 Petitioner's arguments here relate primarily to the Miranda issue just discussed and the failure of defense counsel to call other witnesses to substantiate the petitioner's story. As we have indicated, since it is doubtful that there is a Miranda issue, counsel cannot be ineffective for failing to raise it. 13 As to the other two witnesses that petitioner references, they were subpoenaed and came to the trial, but defense counsel decided not to call them as a matter of strategy after discussing this decision with Scott. The strategy in this case was easy to understand. Petitioner was already digging himself into a hole with his testimony; his testifying friend, Sellers, did nothing to help and the defense attorney wisely did not want more of the same. 14 Reviewing the trial transcript as a whole and applying the standards for measuring an ineffective assistance of counsel claim as set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), we conclude that defense counsel's performance was adequate in light of the strong evidence against the defendant. 15