Zant v. Means

Hines, Justice.

This appeal is from the grant of a petition for habeas corpus on a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Because the habeas court ruled that Means was prejudiced by counsel’s conduct without there being any evidence showing such prejudice, we reverse.

Means was indicted in 1992 on charges of kidnapping, rape, and aggravated assault. When he was apprehended in Colorado, he told police that he had “raped a girl back there,” but Means later told counsel that he believed he was not guilty of rape because no penetration occurred, although he ejaculated outside the…