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Decision to Agree to Mistrial Is Counsel's to Make, Not Defendant's

By Jonathan Byrne

US v. Chapman: In this 2255 action, Chapman challenged the effectiveness of his counsel at trial. In particular, Chapman argued that when the Government went beyond the scope of certain evidentiary rulings with relation to FRE 404(b) evidence, his counsel was ineffective for moving only for a mistrial with prejudice, which the district court denied. The district court "offered" to grant a mistrial without prejudice, but trial counsel declined the invitation. Chapman argued, unsuccessfully before the district court, that counsel's failure to accept the offer when Chapman told him to do so was ineffective assistance.On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's conclusion that Chapman's counsel was not ineffective. The court agreed with the Government that decisions about whether to seek a mistrial, and on what grounds, are tactical decisions that belong to counsel, not the defendant...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Circuit Blog on February 08, 2010 (boomark / email).