Deck 6: The Implications of Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claims: Fran Bernat Simon Zschirnt Nicholas Godlove

Question 1

In which of the following U.S. Supreme Court cases did the Court extend the right of counsel to capital punishment trials?

A) Argersinger v Hamlin.
B) Gideon v Wainwright.
C) Powell v Alabama.
D) Strickland v Washington.
E) Trevino v Thaler.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following would most likely be considered a tactical decision by an attorney and not ineffective assistance of counsel?

A) An attorney makes a tactic decision during the trial without the express consent of the client.
B) An attorney fails to call key witnesses for the defense during the trial.
C) An attorney admits the guilt of the defendant during an opening statement.
D) An attorney has a conflict of interest in the representation of a client.
E) An attorney fails to subject the state's case to any meaningful adversarial process.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The two-part test in Strickland v. Washington requires the defendant/appellant to show ineffective assistance of counsel because the attorney's representation

A) Was both tactical and prejudicial.
B) Was reasonable and not prejudicial.
C) Was deficient but reasonable.
D) Was deficient and prejudicial.
E) Was both tactical and reasonable.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In United States v. Cronic the Court stated that a presumption of ineffective assistance of counsel might occur if

A) A defendant is denied access to counsel during a critical stage.
B) An attorney fails to subject the state's case to any meaningful adversarial testing.
C) The likelihood of any lawyer being able to provide effective assistance exists.
D) An attorney has a conflict of interest when representing the defendant.
E) All of the above.

Question 5

Most ineffective assistance-of-counsel claims are raised on appeal using

A) Writ of certiorari.
B) Writ of habeas corpus.
C) Writ of mandamus.
D) Writ of prohibition.
E) Writ of review.

Question 6

In Padilla v. Kentucky (2010), the court extended the right to effective assistance of counsel to cases where an attorney did not

A) Inform the accused of a favorable plea deal.
B) Inform the accused of the impact of a guilty plea on the death penalty phase of a trial.
C) Inform the accused of the impact of a guilty plea on deportation.
D) Inform the accused of the need to timely argue ineffective assistance of counsel so as to preserve the issue for appeal.

Question 7

Habeas corpus petitions are:

A) Not appropriate venues to claim ineffective assistance of counsel claims.
B) Mechanisms to challenge constitutional claims that resulted in a person's confinement in state or federal prisons.
C) Used by defendants to claim that their counsel was effective and they had a fair trial.
D) Mechanisms to challenge a direct appeal from a person's conviction or sentence for a crime.
E) Procedural claims that the trial court erred in allowing an attorney to be appointed as counsel.

Question 8

The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 does each of the following except

A) Bars successive habeas corpus petitions by generally limiting prisoners to 10 petitions in total.
B) Emphasizes the need for a high standard of review by appellate courts.
C) Bars federal courts from hearing live issues in habeas corpus petitions that are currently being litigated in the state courts.
D) Limits federal courts from hearing issues that were not raised in state courts.
E) None of the above.

Question 9

The U.S. Supreme Court used ABA standards to determine whether counsel was effective in

A) Lafler v. Cooper.
B) Martinez v. Ryan.
C) Sears v. Upton.
D) Wiggins v. Smith.
E) United States v. Long.

Question 10

An attorney may not need to inform a client about __ to be considered effective.

A) Impact of a guilty plea on a sentence that could be imposed.
B) Impact of a conviction on deportation proceedings.
C) Their lack of trial experience.
D) Their duty to be a loyal advocate but also their duty not to violate their ethical code of conduct.
E) Tactical choices that they make.