United States v. Stricklin

This case presents a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, brought by Tommy Howard Stricklin. He alleges that he received constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to raise crucial objections during sentencing. We agree and vacate his sentence.

In particular, we hold that the attorney’s performance at sentencing did not fall within the “wide range of reasonable professional assistance.” See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). We further hold that this constitutionally deficient performance resulted in prejudice.…