DueProcess HabeasCorpus CriminalProcedure
Whether the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process are satisfied by an appellate court's summary conclusion, without any elaboration or analysis, that there was no prejudice to the defendant despite a finding of ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to investigate the case and review the state's discovery with the defendant
QUESTION PRESENTED Where a post-conviction review of a murder trial leading to a sentence of life imprisonment finds that there was ineffective assistance of counsel but, through sua sponte reasoning, the PCR Court denies that there was prejudice resulting from the ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to investigate the case and review the state’s discovery with the defendant, is the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process satisfied by an appellate court’s summary conclusion, without any elaboration or analysis, that there was no prejudice to the defendant?