Opinion ID: 1200475
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to present a manslaughter defense.

Text: Appellant also asserts that counsel's failure to present a voluntary manslaughter theory of defense, or request a manslaughter jury instruction, constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. At the post-conviction hearing, defense counsel stated that a manslaughter theory and instruction would have been inappropriate because appellant's theory of defense was that the victim either killed herself or was killed by someone else. The court below agreed. We believe the lower court's decision was correct. Appellant maintained his total innocence of the crime at all times. Offering a voluntary manslaughter theory or requesting an instruction on it would have been totally contrary to the defense's theory of the case. On appeal, this court will not secondguess an attorney's tactical decisions where they relate to trial strategy and are within the attorney's discretion. Wilson v. State, 99 Nev. 362, 372, 664 P.2d 328, 334 (1983); Watkins v. State, 93 Nev. 100, 102, 560 P.2d 921, 922 (1977). This remains so even if better tactics appear, in retrospect, to have been available. Accordingly, we find no ineffective assistance in defense counsel's failure to present a manslaughter defense theory or failure to request a manslaughter jury instruction.