John Smith has been tried and convicted of the murder of his former wife. At the time of the trial, Mr. Smith was represented by court appointed counsel. The attorney appointed in the case, Bob Jones, Esq., came from Mr. Smith's small Georgia county, where Mr. Jones has a general law practice. At the time of Mr. Smith's trial, Mr. Jones had very little criminal experience and no experience handling a death penalty case. Due to Mr. Jones' lack of experience and the fact that it is a capital case, the judge appointed co-counsel, a local real estate lawyer, Bill Brown.

Mr. Smith's appointed attorneys did not file a single pre-trial motion on behalf of the defense. This failure is in direct contrast to a common practice among death penalty attorneys to use pre-trial motions vigorously. Mr. Jones and Mr. Brown did a minimal amount of investigation, basically limited to calling several of Mr. Jones' relatives. The attorneys failed to request funding for any defense expert witnesses and failed to use any of the available death penalty resources offered by the state through a statewide death penalty defender agency.

At trial, Mr. Jones and Mr. Brown did not make a single objection during the presentation of the State's case. Mr. Jones made an opening statement, conducted cross-examination and gave a closing statement. The entire case, from jury selection to jury verdict in the sentencing phase, took only three days. Mr. Smith was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Mr. Smith has lost his first round of appeals and is now seeking post-conviction relief. Among his numerous claims, Mr. Smith wants to make an ineffective assistance of counsel claim.

Answer

What are Mr. Strickland's chances of success on this claim in light of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984)? Discuss the standards set out in Strickland and apply them to these facts. What additional facts would you need to know in order to determine whether Mr. Smith's claim will be successful? How important is it, under Strickland, that the appointed attorneys had no experience defending capital cases?

1-the standard for effective counsel is reasonably effective assistance

2-in this case the strategy was reasonable

3-even if it was unreasonable, defendant was not sufficiently prejudiced to overturn death penalty