Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
State v. Todd, 369 N.C. 707 (Jun. 9, 2017)
The Court of Appeals erred by holding that the defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel when appellate counsel failed to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the defendant’s armed robbery conviction. Before the Supreme Court, the State argued that appellate counsel made a strategic decision not to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence. However, because the lower courts did not determine whether there was a strategic reason for counsel to refrain from addressing the sufficiency of the evidence, the record was insufficient to determine the merits of the ineffective assistance claim. The court reversed and remanded so that the trial court could fully address whether counsel made a strategic decision not to raise the sufficiency of the evidence argument, if such a decision was reasonable and whether the defendant suffered prejudice.