Opinion ID: 4564881
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Anderson’s State Habeas Petition

Text: Anderson then filed a petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Nevada district court alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Anderson alleged he did not receive effective assistance during the plea process because his trial counsel recommended a guilty plea rather than going to trial, rendering Anderson’s double jeopardy claim premature. 2 Anderson also alleged that trial counsel was ineffective because he did not familiarize himself with relevant law when counsel recommended Anderson pursue a double jeopardy strategy. Anderson reasoned that because the Nevada Supreme Court ultimately held that the failure-toyield misdemeanor was not a lesser-included offense of the felony DUI, “NO Double Jeopardy claim was available” from the outset. Notably, Anderson did not challenge the Nevada Supreme Court’s merits ruling. The Nevada district court denied Anderson’s petition.
Anderson appealed the denial of his habeas petition to the Nevada Supreme Court. That court evaluated the petition under Strickland v. Washington, which required Anderson to demonstrate that his trial counsel’s performance was unreasonably deficient resulting in prejudice such that, but for counsel’s errors, the result for Anderson would have been different. 466 U.S. 668, 697 (1984). The Nevada Supreme Court determined Anderson did not allege either that he rejected a more favorable plea offer or that he would 2 This argument was factually inconsistent with that actually happened in Anderson’s case. The Nevada Supreme Court did not hold that Anderson’s claim was premature; quite the opposite, it treated Anderson’s double jeopardy claim as ripe and addressed it on the merits. See Anderson, 129 Nev. at 1095. ANDERSON V. NEVEN 17 have insisted on going to trial were it not for his trial counsel’s advice. The court further noted that Anderson received as a benefit of his guilty plea the dismissal of two other cases distinct from the failure-to-yield misdemeanor complaint and DUI causing death felony complaint. The Nevada Supreme Court declined to find Anderson’s trial counsel ineffective and affirmed the lower court’s denial of his petition.