Cleveland v. State

This case involves an ineffective assistance of counsel claim raised in regard to appellant Sean David Cleveland’s decision to reject a plea offer, consisting of probation and a fine, and instead proceed to trial where, upon conviction, he faced a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment. I agree with the majority and the Court of Appeals that appellant established that his defense counsel’s performance was objectively unreasonable for purposes of the attorney competence prong of the Strickland v. *149Washington test. On the legal issue raised in regard to the “inference” language in…