State v. Bristol

The State appeals a superior court order granting petitioner post-conviction relief in the form of a new trial because he was denied effective assistance of counsel during the plea bargaining phase of his trial for second-degree and felony murder. We reverse and remand.

In 1980, petitioner was charged by information with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder in connection with the shootings of the Vances, an elderly brother and sister, at their Danville farm. After dismissing the information because defense counsel, Edwards O’Boyle, successfully suppressed…