California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Billoups, C075651 (Cal. App. 2015):
"To establish ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show that (1) counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness under prevailing professional norms, and (2) counsel's deficient performance was prejudicial, i.e., there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's failings, the result would have been more favorable to the defendant." (People v. Scott (1997) 15 Cal.4th 1188, 1211.) Although a defendant has the burden of showing both deficient representation and resulting prejudice, we may properly dispose of defendant's claim on the ground of lack of sufficient prejudice, without making a determination as to whether counsel's performance was below an objective standard of reasonableness. (Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 668, 697 [80 L.Ed.2d 674, 699].) We conclude there was no prejudice here because there is no reasonable probability that the result would have been more favorable to the defendant had trial counsel elicited the evidence in question.
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