Opinion ID: 765712
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Factual Basis in the Record

Text: 14 Baja presented his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel to the state court by way of a personal restraint petition. The petition was denied by the state Court of Appeals on the ground that he failed to present a prima facie case of ineffective assistance of counsel under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). The Court of Appeals apparently did not review evidence from the trial, or consider additional evidence outside the record, because Baja failed to come forward with evidence of a colorable claim. The Washington Supreme Court denied Baja's motion for discretionary review of the appeals court's decision on the same grounds. 15 In the absence of any evidentiary hearing or consideration of additional evidence presented on appeal to the state courts, no factual basis for Baja's ineffective assistance of counsel claim was developed. See, e.g., United States v. Sitton, 968 F.2d 947, 960 (9th Cir. 1992) (Ineffective assistance claims are ordinarily reviewed only in collateral proceedings because such claims usually cannot be resolved without the development of facts outside the original record.).