Jimmy Ray Bonds v. Louis L. Wainwright, Director, Division of Corrections

TUTTLE, Circuit Judge:

In 1953, a jury in Florida state court found Jimmy Ray Bonds guilty of rape. He was sentenced to thirty years imprisonment, which he did not appeal. In 1974, however, Bonds challenged his conviction by seeking a writ of habeas corpus, first, unsuccessfully from Florida, and then in the federal courts.1 The district court denied relief. In his appeal, Bonds challenges the lower court’s decision in only one respect: he asserts that his trial counsel failed to render him constitutionally effective assistance in connection with the decision whether or not to pursue a direct…