Mitchell Rivers v. State

Syllabus

Mitchell Rivers was tried and convicted of Homicide by Child Abuse following the death of his four-month-old child. At Rivers' trial, the State introduced evidence of Victim's prior injuries that were unrelated to Victim's death. Rivers' Trial Counsel objected pretrial but failed to renew that objection during trial, leaving the issue unpreserved on appeal. Following his direct appeal, Rivers filed a PCR application claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. The PCR court denied relief, finding Rivers was not prejudiced by his trial counsel's error. The court of appeals reversed. We issued a writ of certiorari to decide whether the court of appeals erred in reversing the PCR court's determination that Rivers failed to establish his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. We reverse.