Opinion ID: 789280
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: State Court Determination

Text: 37 The district court adopted the determination of the Indiana state courts on Sanders's ineffective assistance claim without much explanation. The last Indiana court to rule on the merits of Sanders's claim was the post-conviction trial court, so this court reviews its determination. See McFowler, 349 F.3d at 446. The trial court found, without explanation or citation, that Defendant's Tendered Instruction No. 2 was a misstatement of the law and the trial court did not commit error by refusing to give the instruction to the jury. The trial court concluded that counsel's offer of a[sic] inaccurate instruction ... does not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel because the jury was adequately instructed on voluntary manslaughter, and thus, the defendant was not prejudiced by counsel's faulty instructions. 38