Eubanks v. Comm'r of Corr.

**586*705Sometimes, the dispositive issue in an appeal is whether the reviewing court properly should reach the merits. Upon this court's grant of his petition for certification, the respondent, the Commissioner of Correction, appeals from the Appellate Court's judgment reversing the judgment of the habeas court, which had denied the petition for a writ of habeas corpus **587filed by the petitioner, David Eubanks.1 The respondent claims that the Appellate Court improperly reached the merits of the petitioner's claim that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel by failing…