Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object on Double Jeopardy grounds to nine identical carbon copy indictments

QUESTION PRESENTED Dodd was indicted on nine counts for the sexual abuse of a child fifteen years prior. Each count of the indictment was an identical carbon copy, including that each alleged that the crime happened over an identical time span. The evidence did not prove nine specific instances of abuse but gave general allegations. Dodd had a strong defense that the crime could not have happened during the first four years of the allegations. The question presented is whether trial counsel is ineffective where he failed to object on Double Jeopardy grounds to these nine identical carbon copy indictments? In Valentine v. Konteh, 395 F.3d 626 (6th Cir. 2005), the court granted habeas relief for an identical double jeopardy violation. The Supreme Court of Virginia in this case denied Dodd’s state habeas petition because “there is no clearly established Supreme Court precedent addressing the constitutionality of multiple identical indictments” and a petition for habeas corpus cannot be granted without “clearly established federal law.” Dodd v. Clarke, 2021 Va. Unpub. LEXIS 2, 2021 WL 397987 at *3. ii LIST OF ALL PROCEEDINGS Commonwealth v. Dodd, No. CR1301133-01 through 09, Chesterfield Circuit Court. Judgment entered April 7, 2015 (trial). Commonwealth v. Dodd, No. 1048-15-2, Virginia Court of Appeals. Judgment entered July 5, 2016 (direct appeal). Commonwealth v. Dodd, No. 161146, Supreme Court of Virginia. Judgment entered January 30, 2017 (direct appeal). Dodd ov. Director, No. CL1I8HC-930, Chesterfield Circuit Court. Judgment entered October 21, 2019 (state habeas). Dodd v. Director, No. 200091, Supreme Court of Virginia. Judgment entered February 4, 2021 (habeas appeal). Dodd v. Director, No. 3:21-cv-259, Eastern District of Virginia. Judgment entered August 22, 2022 (federal habeas). Dodd v. Direction, No. 22-7017, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Judgment entered December 19, 2023.