Boland v. Secretary, Department of Corrections

Bradley Boland, a Florida prisoner, appeals the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Boland argued that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to argue on direct appeal that the trial court violated Boland’s rights under the Confrontation Clause when it admitted testimony from his first trial at his second trial. We granted a certificate of appealability to resolve “[w]hether the district court erred in evaluating the prejudice prong of appellant’s ineffective-assistance-of-appellate-counsel claim.” Because it was not an unreasonable application of…