Opinion ID: 795103
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Ohio Supreme Court's Decision to The Contrary Was Unreasonable

Text: 135 The Supreme Court of Ohio's determination that Gray does not extend to ineffective assistance of counsel cases is unreasonable. Whether defense counsel could have rehabilitated a juror will always be speculative, thus leaving defendants with no recourse where defense counsel errs and that error causes prejudice. Petitioner has no way of proving that rehabilitation would have been successful because the attorney's failure necessarily leaves no record. It should not follow that an attorney's abdication of his responsibilities can never result in prejudice within the meaning of the Sixth Amendment. Consequently, the only rational holding would be to presume prejudice under Gray when, as here, the jurors responses are equivocal, and do not clearly disqualify them under Witherspoon.