Opinion ID: 1058958
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Failure to Request a Jury Instruction on First-Degree Murder

Text: In claim V(B), Morrisette alleges he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because counsel failed to request an instruction on the lesser-included offense of first-degree murder. Morrisette alleges he was prejudiced by counsel's failure because the jury could have found that the evidence was either insufficient to prove Morrisette's sexual intercourse with White was nonconsensual or insufficient to prove that the act of sexual intercourse was contemporaneous with the killing of White. Morrisette bases this argument on the evidence that there was no injury to the victim's external genitalia coupled with the presence of his semen. The defense's theory at trial was that Morrisette did not murder White. Counsel argued during trial that Morrisette was not involved in the murder and that [n]othing in any evidence shows that William Morrisette did the murder. Counsel could not have reasonably argued that Morrisette committed first-degree murder without destroying the stronger argument that Morrisette did not commit the murder. Therefore, Morrisette has failed to demonstrate that counsel's performance was deficient or that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's alleged error, the outcome of the proceeding would have been different. See Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052.