Nazzaro Scarpa v. Larry E. Dubois, Etc.

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

This appeal requires that we address an important question, not authoritatively resolved by controlling precedent: When (if ever) does defense counsel’s substandard performance in a criminal case — never a pretty sight — become so unattractive that a habeas court must forgo the customary inquiry into the harmful effects of attorney error and, instead, conclusively presume that counsel’s blunders prejudiced the defendant?

The question arises in the following context. Petitioner-appellee Nazzaro Scarpa brought a pro se application for habeas corpus in the federal district…