Ploof v. State

STEELE, Chief Justice for the Majority:

In this appeal of a denial of a postconviction relief motion, we examine whether defense counsel were ineffective during a defendant’s first-degree murder trial. We hold that the attorneys’ alleged failure to consult with a forensic pathologist or toxicologist, to present more evidence regarding the victim’s dominant hand, to investigate ballistics issues, appeal certain issues, and to object to the dismissal of jurors who indicated that they could not impose the death penalty did not prejudice the defendant during his trial’s guilt phase. During the…