State v. Miller
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The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the post-conviction court granting Defendant post-conviction relief (PCR) on the ground that counsel's ineffectiveness challenged Defendant, holding that Defendant's lawyers were not deficient by failing to challenge a challenged jury instruction.
Defendant was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and other charges. The jury returned death sentence verdicts on each murder count. Defendant later brought his petition for PCR, claiming that his counsel were constitutionally ineffective for failing to object to the Revised Arizona Jury Instruction's (RAJI) definition of "significantly impaired." The post-conviction court concluded that the RAJI had misstated the law by using the word "prevented" and that both trial and appellate counsel were constitutionally ineffective for failing to challenge the instruction. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that even if Defendant's counsel were deficient for failing to challenge the RAJI, Defendant's defense was not prejudiced.
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