Whether the Arkansas courts applied an incorrect standard for resolving petitioner Whiteside's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in sentencing,

QUESTION PRESENTED FOR REVIEW WHETHER THE ARKANSAS COURTS APPLIED AN INCORRECT STANDARD FOR RESOLVING PETITIONER WHITESIDE’S CLAIMS OF INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL IN SENTENCING BY REQUIRING PROOF THAT ANY INDIVIDUAL ACT OF DEFICIENT PERFORMANCE MUST SATISFY THE PREJUDICE PRONG OF STRICKLAND y. WASHIINGTON, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), RATHER THAN CONSIDERING, CUMULATIVELY, THE PROBABLE PREJUDGE ATTRIBUTABLE TO COUNSEL’S MULTIPLE ERRORS OR DEFICIENCIES IN PERFORMANCE IN ASSESSING THE TOTALITY OF COUNSEL’S REPRESENTATION. A. WHETHER STRICKLAND PERMITS CHARACTERIZATION OF PERFORMANCE DEFICIENCIES BY COUNSEL AS MATTERS OF STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING WHEN COUNSEL ADMITS THAT ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES WERE NEVER RECOGNIZED OR GIVEN CONSIDERATION. B. WHETHER DETERMINATION OF PRECEDENT CONTROLLING FEDERAL HABEAS CORPUS REVIEW OF STATE PETITIONER’S CLAIMS PURSUANT TO STRICKLAND IS ALTERED BY AEDPA. i PRIOR LITIGATION RELATED TO THIS CASE ° Whiteside v. State, 383 S.W.3d 859 (Ark. 2010), affirming conviction and sentence life imprisonment for capital felony murder on direct appeal; ° Whiteside v. Arkansas, 567 U.S. 850 (2012), granting certiorari, vacating judgment and remanding for reconsideration in light of Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012); ° Whiteside v. Arkansas, 567 U.S. 964 (2012). Petition for rehearing denied; seeking review of state law requiring accused to prove affirmative defense of lack of intent to commit capital felony murder; ° Whiteside v. State, 426 S.W. 3d 917 (Ark. 2013), opinion on remand from Whiteside v. Arkansas, 567 U.S. 850 (2012), remanding for resentencing on capital murder charge and denying Petitioner’s argument for resentencing on underlying felony charge of aggravated robbery supporting capital felony murder count; ° Whiteside v. Arkansas, 571 U.S. 922 (2013), cert. denied; denying review of Petitioner’s argument that that re-sentencing order limited to capital murder conviction and precluding re-sentencing on conviction on underlying felony of aggravated robbery; ° Whiteside v. State. 588 S.W.3d 720 (Ark. 2019), affirming denial of motion for new trial; holding claimed sentencing instruction error in authorizing jury to impose life sentence on underlying aggravated robbery conviction violated Eighth Amendment based on juvenile non-homicide life sentencing issue expressly left unresolved by Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010) defaulted by failure to present issue on direct appeal, cert. denied, Whiteside v. Arkansas, 141 S.Ct. 1048 (2021); ° Whiteside v. State. 684 S.W.3d 588 (Ark. 2024), affirming denial of post-conviction relief by trial court following hearing on Petitioner’s claims of counsel’s ineffective assistance in sentencing process on conviction for underlying felony of aggravated robbery. ii