Ryan C. Christian v. State of Missouri

Following his convictions of multiple counts of assault and armed criminal action, Ryan Christian filed a motion for post-conviction relief under Supreme Court Rule 29.15. The motion alleged that Christian’s trial counsel was ineffective for failing to ask prospective jurors during voir dire whether they would consider Christian’s prior felony convictions as evidence of his guilt. The circuit court found that Christian’s trial counsel was ineffective for failing to conduct this inquiry. The court concluded, however, that Christian had failed to prove that he had been prejudiced by counsel’s…