Smith v. State

Summary

The court affirmed Smith’s convictions and sentences, rejecting his ineffective-assistance claims, his independent claim that the State used false evidence, and his cumulative-error claim. It held that counsel reasonably used cross-examination instead of retaining a firearms expert, that the felony-murder argument presented no live ineffective-assistance issue because that conviction was vacated, and that counsel’s handling of evidence concerning Smith’s brother was strategic and nondeficient. Even assuming imputed prosecutorial knowledge that the brother was not a murder defendant, the court held that the alleged misstatement was immaterial in light of the strong evidence of calculated murder and the limited relevance of the brother’s criminal history.