Chas Harper v. Richard Brown

SYKES, Circuit Judge.

Chas Harper, an Indiana prisoner, seeks habeas relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 claiming that his attorney on direct appeal was constitutionally ineffective because he failed to adequately develop an argument that Harper’s sentence warranted revision under Rule 7(B) of the Indiana Rules of Appellate Procedure. Because the argument was underdeveloped, the state appellate court deemed it waived. The court later rejected Harper’s claim on postcon-viction review that the waiver amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel. Applying the standard announced in Strickland v.…