Does the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel include the right to a plea offer that was never made?

QUESTION PRESENTED In Lafler v. Cooper, 566 U.S. 156 (2012), the Court held that a defendant has the right to effective assistance of counsel in considering whether to accept a plea offer—even if the defendant was later convicted after a fair trial. The Lafler Court cautioned, however, that this right exists only “[i]f a plea bargain has been offered .Ifno plea offer is made, . . . the issue raised here simply does not arise.” Jd. at 168 (emphasis added). The Sixth Circuit, with one judge strongly dissenting, nonetheless held here that the prisoner, who was convicted after a fair trial, was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to pursue plea negotiations— that is, where no “plea offer [was] made.” Id. The court declined to explain how the state courts, in remedying this purported constitutional violation, could determine what hypothetical plea offer he would have received and whether a state court would have accepted the hypothetical plea offer. The question presented is: Does the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel include the right to a plea offer that was never made?