Michael Deon Taylor v. State of Mississippi

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

CHANDLER, Justice,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Michael Deon Taylor was convicted in 2012 of possessing stolen property. He was sentenced as a habitual offender to ten years in prison. Taylor testified in his own defense at trial. During cross-examination, the State questioned Taylor extensively about his numerous past felony convictions without objection from defense counsel. We find that defense counsel’s failure to object to the expansive inquiry into Taylor’s prior convictions constituted ineffective assistance of counsel apparent from the record before us on direct appeal. We…