Habeas Corpus — ineffective assistance

United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Habeas Corpus — ineffective assistance

Where the evidence of guilt was overwhelming, the state court did not err in finding that any deficiencies by defense counsel were not prejudicial.

“Nearly twenty years ago, Mulero pleaded guilty in Illinois state court to two counts of murder and received a sentence of life imprisonment. Even assuming her attorney was deficient in failing to further investigate inconsistencies or a motive to lie in statements by two witnesses, or was deficient in failing to obtain psychological or IQ evidence to challenge Mulero’s confession, the state court did not err in concluding that Mulero suffered no prejudice. The evidence against Mulero was overwhelming and there is no reasonable likelihood that, in light of this overwhelming evidence, any further investigation would have convinced Mulero to instead plead not guilty and then alter the outcome of the proceedings, i.e., her conviction on two counts of murder and life sentence.”

Affirmed.

10-3875 Mulero v. Thompson

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Norgle, J., Manion, J.