State of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Thomas L. Pitsch, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The court adopted the federal two-part ineffective-assistance framework requiring deficient performance and resulting prejudice. It held that counsel performed deficiently by failing to investigate the defendant's conviction record and to seek a pretrial determination concerning admissibility before eliciting the record, and that the resulting damage to credibility undermined confidence in the verdict. The conviction and postconviction order were reversed, and the case was remanded for a new trial.