Flores-Salazar v. Franke

In this post-conviction case, we are asked to decide whether petitioner’s counsel was inadequate in choosing an “all or nothing” strategy in defending petitioner rather than requesting a jury instruction on a lesser-included offense. Petitioner appeals a judgment denying his petition for post-conviction relief. He argues that his attorney’s failure to request a jury instruction on a lesser-included offense resulted in a conviction on a more serious offense with a longer prison sentence. Petitioner was acquitted of charges of burglary and attempted rape, but he was convicted by a jury of…