Alton B. Smith v. State of South Carolina

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• recognizing that counsel’s failure to raise a weak claim may constitute an acceptable strategic decision “to avoid diverting the appellate court’s attention from what [counsel] felt were stronger claims”
• observing that “cause” to excuse procedural default of an issue for purposes of habeas review exists based on appellate counsel’s conduct only when counsel’s performance was constitutionally defective
• counsel’s failure to raise a weak constitutional claim may constitute an acceptable strategic decision designed “to avoid diverting the appellate court’s attention from what [counsel] felt were stronger claims”
• counsel's failure to raise a weak constitutional claim may constitute an acceptable strategic decision designed \to avoid diverting the appellate court's attention from what [counsel] felt were stronger claims\
• attorney’s failure to raise a non-frivolous issue on appeal only constitutes cause for procedural default if attorney’s failure fulfills the standard for ineffective assistance of counsel
• counsel’s failure to raise a weak constitutional claim may constitute an acceptable strategic decision designed “to avoid diverting the appellate court’s attention from what [counsel] felt were stronger claims”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).