Harris v. State

HERRMANN, Justice:

This is an appeal from a post-conviction proceeding involving the competency of legal counsel in a rape case.

I

Upon a prior appeal from the conviction itself, the defendant contended that his former counsel was so incompetent as trial attorney as to be “inherently ineffective’’ in his representation of the defendant; that, therefore, he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel in violation of his constitutional rights.

This Court declined to rule upon the issue being raised for the first time upon the direct appeal. After specifying the charges and delineating the…