Post-Conviction Hope
Hi, I’m Oklahoma City Attorney Aaron Easton and this is part two in a five-part series I have going over the ineffective assistance of counsel and how that interplays with your right as a criminal defendant in Oklahoma to apply for post-conviction relief after conviction.
So today I just want to briefly go over the case, the foundational case, that controls the whole ineffective assistance of counsel process when it comes to post-conviction relief and that is the United States Supreme Court case of Strickland v. Washington. And that case lays out the groundwork of what courts in Oklahoma and really all throughout the country look at when they’re looking at an ineffective assistance of counsel case for post-conviction relief.
Just very briefly, what Strickland does is it sets out a two-part test for courts to look at when they’re determining if a petitioner who’s petitioned for post-conviction relief should get relief. And that two-part test is this. First, the petitioner must establish the first prong, which is they must show that counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and two, the petitioner must show that they suffered prejudice from the counsel’s deficient performance.
So objective standard of reasonableness means that that would be viewed not from the perspective of the individual petitioner, but objectively as a general defense attorney would be looked at. And in subsequent videos, we’ll go over, dig in more to what those two prongs entail, what you need to prove as a petitioner. But that’s the message for today. Two-part, two-pronged test in Strickland v. Washington will determine whether or not you may be eligible for post-conviction relief in Oklahoma.
Initial Consultation: Find Out if You Qualify for Post-Conviction Relief
If you feel like you’re in this position and you’d like to talk to an attorney to see if you might be a good candidate for post-conviction relief due to the ineffective assistance of counsel, you can speak to somebody at my firm for a initial consultation. You can reach us online at postconviction.lawyer or by phone at 405-888-5400.