Opinion ID: 1199801
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel as to Guilt

Text: (16) Defendant contends that defense counsel provided him with ineffective assistance as to guilt in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and/or article I, section 15 of the California Constitution. To succeed under the Sixth Amendment or article I, section 15, a defendant must show (1) deficient performance under an objective standard of professional reasonableness and (2) prejudice under a test of reasonable probability of an adverse effect on the outcome. ( People v. Ledesma (1987) 43 Cal.3d 171, 215-218 [233 Cal. Rptr. 404, 729 P.2d 839] [discussing both the federal and state constitutional rights to the assistance of counsel].) [10] The prosecutor called many witnesses and used many exhibits to prove defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. For their part, defense counsel called several witnesses and used several exhibits to raise such a doubt, playing on various uncertainties in the prosecutor's evidence, including uncertainties related to time. Defendant claims that defense counsel performed deficiently with regard to numerous cited acts and omissions and thereby subjected him to prejudice. In large part, he simply recasts arguments for reversal that we have expressly or impliedly disposed of in the course of the preceding analysis. He is indeed forceful in presenting his complaints. We have carefully considered each in its proper context. In few, if any, instances does he show professionally unreasonable conduct. In none does he show a reasonable probability of an adverse effect on the outcome. For example, defendant does not establish ineffective assistance in defense counsel's asserted failure to more fully prepare criminalist Schliebe for his testimony. He does not demonstrate that fuller preparation would have yielded favorable results. Hence, he cannot demonstrate that its omission adversely affected the outcome within a reasonable probability. Neither does defendant establish ineffective assistance in defense counsel's asserted failure to investigate his mental state at the time of the crime or to introduce evidence thereon. Here as well, he does not demonstrate that the investigation would have yielded favorable results and hence cannot demonstrate that its omission adversely affected the outcome within a reasonable probability. [11]