By: Derek Hawkins//June 15, 2021//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: London Triplett v. Jennifer McDermott, Warden
Case No.: 18-2507
Officials: EASTERBROOK, RIPPLE, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Habeas Relief – Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
London Triplett seeks relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, for the alleged ineffectiveness of his counsel in a state criminal proceeding. Triplett contends that he would not have pleaded guilty to certain charges had he understood that other, dismissed charges could be considered by the sentencing judge when they were “read in” at sentencing. Because the decision of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejecting Triplett’s ineffectiveness claim rests on an adequate and independent state ground—Triplett’s failure to allege objective facts in support of his claim of prejudice from his attorney’s erroneous advice—we conclude that habeas relief is foreclosed to him. We therefore affirm the district court’s judgment, but on a different ground.
Affirmed