Antonio Perez v. Louie L. Wainwright, Secretary, Department of Offender Rehabilitation, State of Florida

ALVIN B. RUBIN, Circuit Judge:

This case requires us to consider once again the constitutional standards by which the actions of counsel retained to defend the accused in a state court proceeding are to be measured when the lawyer has been shown to have been derelict in his duties. Antonio Perez brought this habeas corpus petition attacking a seven year sentence imposed after a jury verdict in a Florida court. The sole ground of error alleged is that retained counsel 1 failed to perfect his appeal, after promising Perez to do so and falsely stating in open court at the time of sentencing that…