Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Chas Harper v. Richard Brown

Case No.: 15-2276

Officials: KANNE, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Chas Harper, an Indiana prisoner, seeks habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 claiming that his attorney on direct appeal was constitutionally ineffective because he failed to adequately develop an argument that Harper’s sentence warranted revision under Rule 7(B) of the Indiana Rules of Appellate Procedure. Because the argument was underdeveloped, the state appellate court deemed it waived. The court later rejected Harper’s claim on postconviction review that the waiver amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel. Applying the standard announced in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), the court held that Harper was not prejudiced by the waiver because his sentence was appropriate under state law, so a well-developed Rule 7(B) argument would have failed.

Harper challenges that ruling under § 2254, but his argument is really an attack on the state court’s resolution of a question of state law embedded within its analysis of a Strickland claim. Federal courts are not empowered to review questions of state law under § 2254. Because the state court reasonably applied the Strickland standard, we affirm the district court’s denial of § 2254 relief.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.