Sullivan v. Popoff

The question on appeal in this post-conviction case is whether, in deciding not to raise a hearsay objection to certain testimony at petitioner’s criminal trial, petitioner’s trial counsel failed to exercise reasonable professional skill and judgment and, if so, whether that failure prejudiced petitioner. We conclude, as did the post-conviction court, that trial counsel’s decision-making process, and his handling of the testimony that petitioner identifies as objectionable, was well within the range of reasonable approaches available to a lawyer in trial counsel’s position. Accordingly, we…