Shelben T. Curtis v. Ron Neal, Warden
DueProcess HabeasCorpus JusticiabilityDoctri
Whether the lower courts unreasonably applied Brantley retroactively when deciding if counsel's ineffectiveness denied Sixth Amendment rights due to inability to anticipate legal changes regarding voluntary manslaughter and sudden heat mitigation
I: Whether the lower courts unreasonably applied Brantley retroactively when it decided that the petitioner was not denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel because counsel could not anticipate a change in law, in that, it was unclear if sudden heat was a mitigator or element of voluntary manslaughter when charged as a standalone offense. QUESTION II: Whether the petitioner was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsefwhen trial counsel failed to object to the aggravated battery jury instruction, which listed an uncharged element in the aggravated battery jury instruction. = ii