Murray v. Griffith

The sole issue in this habeas corpus appeal is whether the trial court erred in ruling that an accused was denied effective assistance of counsel.

In 1989, appellee Charles Richard Griffith was convicted in the court below in a bench trial of robbery and malicious wounding, and sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment. In 1990, after withdrawing an appeal of the convictions, the prisoner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus naming appellant, Edward W. Murray, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections, as the respondent. In this collateral attack on the convictions, the convict asserted…