California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Lor, A149231 (Cal. App. 2018):
"Establishing a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel requires the defendant to demonstrate (1) counsel's performance was deficient in that it fell below an objective standard of reasonableness under prevailing professional norms, and (2) counsel's deficient representation prejudiced the defendant, i.e., there is a 'reasonable probability' that, but for counsel's failings, defendant would have obtained a more favorable result." (People v. Dennis (1998) 17 Cal.4th 468, 540-541.) "A court must indulge a strong presumption that counsel's acts were within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance." (Id. at p. 541.) Matters involving trial tactics are generally " 'not subject to judicial hindsight and the courts will not attempt to second-guess trial counsel. . . . "It is not sufficient to allege merely that the attorney's tactics were poor, or that the case might have been handled more effectively." ' " (People v. Blomdahl (1993) 16 Cal.App.4th 1242, 1248.) When a defendant makes an ineffective assistance claim on direct appeal, "the appellate court must look to see if the record contains any explanation for the challenged aspects of representation. If the record sheds no light on why counsel acted or failed to act in the manner challenged, 'unless counsel was asked for an explanation and failed to provide one, or unless there simply could be no satisfactory
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