Opinion ID: 1626797
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: the defendant was denied his sixth amendment right of effective assistance of counsel.

Text: ¶ 31. A claim of ineffectiveness of counsel begins with the fundamental concepts that the defendant: (1) had a right to counsel, (2) that his right to counsel encompassed the right to reasonably effective assistance of counsel, and (3) that the right to effective assistance of counsel attached at both the guilt phase and sentencing phase of his trial. King v. State, 503 So.2d 271, 273 (Miss.1987). The benchmark for judging any claim of ineffectiveness [of counsel] must be whether counsel's conduct so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just result. Foster v. State, 687 So.2d 1124, 1129 (Miss.1996). The defendant must establish two elements in order to prevail in this claim. First, he must show that his counsel's performance was so deficient that he was not performing as counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Second, he must prove that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive him of a fair trial. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); Foster, 687 So.2d at 1129. Both showings must be made or there is no claim that a breakdown in the adversary process has occurred such that the result is unreliable. Id. This Court will review all circumstances in order to determine whether counsel's assistance was reasonable. Id. at 1129-30. There is a presumption that defense counsel is competent. Id. at 1130. We will evaluate counsel's actions from his perspective at the time he took those actions. King, 503 So.2d at 273. It must be determined that but for the counsel's unprofessional errors it can be shown to a reasonable probability that the result of the proceeding would have been different. Foster, 687 So.2d at 1130. There is no constitutional right to errorless counsel, just to effective, competent counsel. Both prongs of the test must be satisfied. Id.