Williams v. Rudolph

Melton, Justice.

Following the partial grant of Rajkumar Rudolph’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, Stanley Williams, in his capacity as warden, appeals, contending that the trial court erred by finding that Rudolph had received ineffective assistance of appellate counsel. Specifically, the habeas court found that Rudolph was harmed by appellate counsel’s failure to challenge the trial court’s decision to charge Rudolph’s jury with the crime of statutory rape as a lesser included offense of rape. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse.

As set forth in Rudolph’s prior direct appeal,…