People v. LaBree

The case before us for decision presents yet another of those situations wherein the defendant stoutly maintains that his Sixth Amendment right to representation by counsel was violated because his assigned lawyer was so inadequate and ineffective as to deprive him of a fair trial. Such a claim is often advanced following a protracted period of imprisonment during which the convicted person develops a penetrating hindsight as to how his counsel should have conducted the trial. This case, however, does not concern an allegation of incompetence made only after the conviction, nor is it one of…