Forsyth v. Ault

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Ricky Wayne Forsyth was convicted by an Iowa jury in April 1994 of first-degree murder for the deaths of his estranged wife, his three children, and two children of his wife’s boyfriend. His conviction was affirmed on direct appeal. Iowa v. Forsyth, 547 N.W.2d 833 (Iowa Ct.App.1996). On appeal from the denial of Forsyth’s application for post-conviction relief, the Iowa Court of Appeals rejected his claim that he had been denied the effective assistance of counsel by reason of counsel’s failure to adequately argue that Forsyth was not competent to stand trial and by…