Commonwealth of Kentucky, Appellant/cross-Appellee v. Christopher J. McGorman, Jr., Appellee/cross-Appellant

Summary

The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals in part, affirmed in part, and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on whether a twenty-year plea offer was made and conveyed to McGorman. The court held that counsel was not ineffective in permitting McGorman to speak with police, waiving his physical presence during trial, declining to seek a renewed competency hearing, or failing to challenge several trial matters because the alleged errors either reflected reasonable strategy or did not establish prejudice. The court also held that the circuit court properly resolved most claims from the record without an evidentiary hearing, but the plea-offer claim required factual development. Noble, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have found counsel ineffective for arranging the recorded confession without a psychological evaluation or plea negotiations and would have affirmed the order requiring a new trial.