Michael T. v. Commissioner of Correction

Summary

The court held that trial counsel was not constitutionally ineffective for declining to present expert testimony about a young child's suggestibility and the reliability of her delayed disclosure of sexual abuse. Counsel reasonably could have avoided the expert testimony because it might have opened the door to a damaging video-recorded forensic interview, and the petitioner failed to establish that counsel did not investigate the issue. The court therefore reversed the Appellate Court and directed denial of the habeas petition.