Commonwealth v. Gary E. Mosso

Summary

The court held that defense counsel may provide ineffective assistance by ignoring a defendant's reasonable request to pursue plea negotiations, even when the prosecutor has made no formal plea offer. The defendant established deficient performance, but failed to prove prejudice because the prosecutor would have considered a second-degree murder plea only if both defendants agreed to it, and there was no reasonable probability that a stand-alone plea would have been accepted. The court therefore affirmed the denial of the motion for a new trial.