State v. Becerra

The appellant, Eusebio L. Becerra, was convicted by a jury of kidnapping as a Class LA felony. He moved for postconviction relief, claiming he received ineffective assistance of postconviction counsel in his first postconviction proceeding. He also claims that his trial counsel was ineffective under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 2348, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435 (2000), because his trial counsel failed to object to a jury instruction. He argues that the instruction did not allow the jury to consider whether he was guilty of kidnapping as a Class II felony, which carries a lesser…