Cridler-Smith v. Clarke

Syllabus

01/16/2025 Considering a petition for a writ of habeas corpus asserting two claims for ineffective assistance of counsel, in which the petitioner challenges his pre-trial counsel's advice to cooperate with law enforcement absent adequate investigation into the matter and his trial counsel's subsequent failure to move to suppress the resulting incriminating statements he made, the judgment of the circuit court dismissing the petition is reversed. While petitioner failed to demonstrate that his trial counsel's initial advice regarding cooperation constituted deficient performance, petitioner's contention that his trial counsel's failure to move, pursuant to Rule 3A:8(c)(6), to suppress his confession sets forth a plausible claim of ineffective assistance. Nevertheless, deciding the claim requires resolution of a disputed question of material fact that the circuit court did not resolve definitively on the record presented. Accordingly, the judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the matter is remanded for further proceedings, with instructions to take any evidence necessary so that it may provide an answer to the central question of whether petitioner's statements were \made in connection with and relevant to\ \an offer to plead guilty\ within the intendment of Rule 3A:8(c)(6).