Hoyt Crace v. Robert Herzog

Opinion by Judge BYBEE; Dissent by Judge CALLAHAN

*843OPINION

BYBEE, Circuit Judge:

In 2004, a Washington jury convicted Hoyt Crace of two misdemeanor offenses and one count of attempted second-degree assault — a felony — stemming from an incident in which he brandished a sword at a police officer. The attempted assault conviction constituted Crace’s third strike under Washington’s three-strikes law, and he received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

After Crace’s conviction became final, he brought a claim for postconviction relief under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104…