Ross v. Hill

Petitioner pleaded no contest to and was convicted of multiple offenses, including two counts of first-degree kidnapping. A judgment of conviction was entered on those convictions, including two separate counts of kidnapping. Petitioner sought post-conviction relief, arguing that his court-appointed lawyer was constitutionally inadequate for a number of reasons, including that the lawyer failed to assert that the criminal trial court should have merged the two kidnapping convictions. The post-conviction court denied relief, and petitioner appeals.

We reject all but one of petitioner’s…